Looking backwards
by Quidditchexpert
Summary: In an accident with a portkey, Harry finds himself in the time when his parents go to Hogwarts, and as usual, neck deep in trouble. Will he succeed in hiding his identity? Set at the end of Harry's fifth year.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I wished on a shooting star the other night, but unfortunately still do not own Harry Potter. All the credit for that goes to my Queen, J.K Rowling! I am also not making any profit from writing this fanfiction.

**A/N:This is my first fanfiction, but I hope you like it :) It starts off at the end of Harry's fifth year, when he's in the ministry. The first part of the story is taken from the Fifth book, The Order of Phoenix, with a few bits of my own here and there. But after this _very_ short piece, the rest of the plot is completely mine. Promise :) It will get a lot better too, as the story progresses. And if you see any grammar mistakes, please don't hesitate to correct me! Thanks!**

* * *

Chapter 1

Harry was running.

Running after Bellatrix as fast as he could. He shot as stunner in her direction, but she reacted so fast he barely had time to duck.

"Protego!" she screamed.

His own stunner bounced back at him.

"Potter I'm going to give you one chance!" shouted Bellatrix. "Give me the prophecy-roll it out towards me now-and I may spare your life!"

"Well you're going to have to kill me, because it's gone!" Harry roared, and as he shouted it, pain seared across his forehead; his scar was on fire again, and he felt a surge of fury quite unconnected with his own.

"And he knows!" said Harry with a mad laugh to match Bellatrix's own. "Your dear old mate Voldemort knows it's gone! He's not going to be happy with you, is he?"

"What? What do you mean?" she cried, and for the first time there was fear in her voice.

"The prophecy smashed when I was trying to get Neville up the steps! What do you think Voldemort'll say about that then?"

His scar seared and burned…the pain of it was making his eyes stream…

"LIAR!" she shrieked, but he could hear the terror behind the anger now. "YOU'VE GOT IT POTTER, AND YOU WILL GIVE IT TO ME! Accio prophecy! ACCIO PROPHECY!"

Harry laughed again, because he knew it would incense her, the pain was building in his head so badly he thought his skull might burst.

He waved his empty hand from behind the one-eared goblin and withdrew it quickly as she sent another jet of green light flying at him.

"Nothing there!" he shouted. "Nothing to summon! It smashed and nobody heard what it said, tell your boss that!"

"No," she screamed. "It isn't true, you're lying! MASTER, I TRIED, I TRIED-DO NOT PUNISH ME-"

"Don't waste your breath!" yelled Harry, his eyes screwed up against the pain in his scar, now more terrible than ever. "He can't hear you from here!"

"Can't I Potter?" said a high cold voice.

Tall, thin and black hooded, his terrible snakelike face white and gaunt, his scarlet, slit-pupilled eyes staring…Lord Voldemort had appeared in the middle of the hall, his wand pointed at Harry, who stood frozen, quite unable to move.

"Crap," he thought. He tried to think of something, _anything_ to get him out of this mess he was in, while Voldemort was listening to Bellatrix's snivelling apologies. But strangely he wasn't afraid. He was about to say something when Voldemort spoke.

"I have nothing more to say to you Potter," he said quietly. "You have irked me too often, for too long."

"_AVADA KEDAVRA!_" Just at that moment the headless golden statue of the wizard, came alive and splayed itself, between Voldemort and Harry. The spell glanced off its shiny chest.

It was Dumbledore of course.

* * *

After Voldemort had disapparated with Bellatrix, ministry officials came flooding into the ministry.

"He was there!" shouted a scarlet-robed man with a ponytail, who was pointing at a pile of golden rubble on the other side of the hall where Bellatrix had lain trapped, only moments before.

"I saw him Mr. Fudge, I swear it, it was You-Know-who; he grabbed a woman and disapparated!"

"I know Williamson, I know, I saw him too!" gibbered Fudge. "Merlin's beard-Here-in the ministry of magic-Great heavens above-this doesn't seem possible-my word-how can this be-?"

"I will explain everything later," said Dumbledore, "after Harry gets back to school."

''Portus,'' said Dumbledore. The head glowed blue and trembled against the wooden floor for a few seconds, then became still once more. Fudge was complaining, but Dumbledore turned his back on him. "Take this portkey Harry. I shall see you in half an hour."

* * *

Just as Harry put his finger on the already blue portkey, he faintly heard someone shout, _"Motas Verada!"_

Just as he was about to look up, and see what was going on, there was a tugging behind his navel, and he was jerked forward, and landed with a hard thump, just outside the entrance to Hogwarts. He looked up at the the doors leading to the looming castle that was his home, and cursed. He thought the Portkey was taking him to Dumbledore's office.

He was absolutely covered in blood, cuts and bruises. But the students of Hogwarts were probably used to it; he so often came in like this anyway. He walked forward but every time he did, he felt a horrible pain in his chest. He ignored it. It couldn't be that important anyway.

Even so he pulled up the hood of his cloak, and planned to rush up to the gargoyle that guarded Dumbledore's office. With a bit of luck, there wouldn't be anyone in Great Hall anyway.

He took a deep breath, wiping away a few stray tears, and ignoring the urge to kick something, he put his hands on the great handles, and threw open the doors. It took up a good deal of force, and for some strange reason, he felt slightly drained. He took one look around him, and groaned softly. Everyone was having breakfast. The scent of bacon and eggs slowly wafted through his nostrils, causing his stomach to grumble. He was quite hungry.

The entire student body froze, staring at him. A few people looked scared, which sort of confused him. They knew who he was. It was only a little blood. They never really took much notice whenever it happened before. He supposed they were sort of used to it by now. So why act like this now? Took another look around. He could see Dumbledore up at the teacher's table.

Wait…Dumbledore? He should have been at the Ministry!

Or up in his office, waiting for Harry! Harry was a little peeved. Why was Dumbledore in here, he asked himself, enjoying a bit of breakfast, when he should have been either finishing up with Fudge, or up in his office, waiting to give Harry the explanation he so desperately needed_ right now_? He sighed. He was just about to make his way out, when he heard Dumbledore himself address him.

"Who are you?" He had his wand pointed at Harry's chest. Harry was getting impatient now.

"It's _me_ professor!" he hissed. What was Dumbledore playing at?

"Take down your hood," said Dumbledore quietly. What? No! He couldn't take off his hood! Everyone was already freaking out by seeing the little bit of blood on him that was already visible. If they saw his face there would be an even worse reaction, for sure.

"Look I'd rather not Sir," whispered Harry. This was quite annoying. Why did Dumbledore want him to take off his hood? Dumbledore _knew_ what had just happened.

"Take down your hood," Dumbledore repeated menacingly. "Now."

Harry didn't understand. What was Dumbledore on about? He had never acted like this before now.

"Take it down!" Dumbledore warned.

"Alright!" Harry hissed.

He reluctantly pulled down his hood. Everyone gasped. A replica of James Potter was standing there, covered in blood.

* * *

**A/N: Did you like it? I have the next few chapters written out already; I can post them soon! If you have any questions just PM me :) What do you think will happen next?**

**Hope you like it, anyway. This chapter is very short, but it will get much longer! **

**Cookies if you review :)**

**~ Quidditchexpert **


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Sorry I haven't updated in so long! School and homework got to my head. I have to edit the first chapter, just fix a few spelling mistakes here and there. I also have to thank my amazing beta, Cookies and Cream1234567, for fixing dialogue errors, and grammar mistakes etc. And I promise after this chapter things will get much better! (Including the writing quality. Just check it out) **

**Thank you to all who reviewed and favourited/followed too! I promised cookie, didn't I? *Gives out virtual cookies***  
**Just remember: Reviews are environmentally safe. ^o^**

* * *

Chapter 2

"James!" Harry heard someone scream from the Gryffindor table. Harry frowned, a bit confused.

"I'm right here you dolt," he heard someone else say.

Harry narrowed his eyes. James? There weren't any James's at Hogwarts at the moment. What was going on here? He looked around, taking in the array of faces surrounding him. Wait. He didn't know these people. There were a few recognizable faces, but…Harry's eyes widened.

"Professor! Professor, I need to go to your office, now!"

"I don't know who-" Dumbledore began. Harry ripped off his cloak, and pulled up his left sleeve quickly, knowing that Dumbledore would be more willing to listen if he proved himself to be at least, not a Death Eater.

"There," he whispered. "Happy?" he ignored everyone's gasps, as they were all gawking at his arms, and the area where his chest was hidden under his shirt, which were soaked in blood. A few first years even went as far as screaming at the sight.

Dumbledore pursed his lips. "Not quite."

"Professor, look, we need to go to your office! Please!" Harry pleaded. Dumbledore stared at him for a moment. At first, he looked like he would argue, but after a moment, he appeared to have changed his mind.

"Very well," said Dumbledore curtly. "But I rather think should visit the hospital wing first."

"It doesn't matter!" Harry shouted. "I've had worse! Now let's go!" He was getting panicky now.

Dumbledore looked at him for a moment. "Very well."

Then he proceeded to sweep out of the hall, with Harry stalking in his wake.

By the time the hall doors had closed, everyone was already gossiping about who this mysterious boy was.

* * *

The walk to the office was quiet, too quiet. Dumbledore seemed to be walking a bit quickly, but Harry didn't mind. The sooner Harry told him what had happened, the sooner he would be able to go home. They reached the gargoyle.

"Liquorice wand," said Dumbledore smoothly.

The gargoyle moved aside, and they ascended up the stairs.

Harry sat himself down quickly on the usual chair. An inquisitive look flitted across Dumbledore's face for a moment, but he thought nothing of it.

"What is your n-" he started, but Harry cut him off. "What-what... year is it?"

Dumbledore raised his eyebrows. He thought that a rather strange question. He was unconsciously beginning to wonder whether this boy was in his right mind or not. But he answered anyway.

"1976," he said swiftly.

Harry groaned loudly, and buried his head in his hands. This couldn't actually be happening. It just couldn't.

"Is there a problem?" Dumbledore asked.

Harry nodded slowly. Dumbledore wasn't one to normally be blunt, but his next statement definitely went right to the point.

"What is your name, and how did you get here?"

Harry looked up and answered quietly. "My name is Harry Potter, and you sent me here, by portkey."

"I sent you here?" Dumbledore questioned disbelievingly. "I do not seem to remember this particular event…Mr. Potter."

"No…you wouldn't," replied Harry.

"And, why, may I ask is that?" said Dumbledore.

Harry bit his lip slightly and closed his eyes for a brief moment. Then, Harry swallowed. "Because- it hasn't happened yet."

Dumbledore blinked before replying, "I am sorry, but I'm afraid I do not understand."

Harry suddenly found words tumbling out of his mouth. "I'm from the year 1996," Harry blurted.

"Ah," said Dumbledore, as if he were merely commenting on the weather. "That certainly changes things."

Harry pulled frantically at his hair for a moment. "What will I do professor?"

"Well, first, we must try to find out how you got here and then we must try and find out how to get you back," Dumbledore said firmly. "But there is a problem."

"What?" Harry was getting restless now.

"It might take a while."

Harry was silent. He finally spoke. "What will I do until then professor?"

Dumbledore's piercing blue eyes looked into Harry's bright green ones. He felt as though he was being x-rayed.

"Until then, Mr. Potter, you must stay here, at Hogwarts as a student."

**XxX **

"Did you see him?" bellowed Sirius Black.

James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew were currently on their way to transfiguration.

"We know Sirius," Remus sighed.

"But…But…" stuttered Sirius. "He looks exactly like Prongs!"

"We sort of figured that out for ourselves mate," frowned James, hands buried deep in his robe pockets.

Sirius decided to go for a new tactic. "He was covered in blood!" he yelled.

"Calm down you idiot!" whispered Remus, rolling his eyes. "Go on, say it a bit louder. I'm not sure McGonagall's heard you yet," he remarked dryly.

Sirius opened his mouth. Remus clapped his hand over it. "I was being sarcastic!"

"Oh," replied Sirius, looking down-hearted. Remus looked down at his fingers in disgust.

"Did you_ lick _my hand?" he said disbelievingly.

Sirius shrugged, not embarrassed in the slightest. "Probably."

James smirked, which evolved into a sigh, while Remus quickly wiped his hands on his robes, his eyes narrowed.

"Look Moony, I sort of have to side with Padfoot on this one. I mean, who is he? He looked around our age. He just waltzed in, when everyone was having breakfast!"

He walked along, while attempting to kick at a small dust particle in front of him.

"He sort of looked at everyone in the hall, and then panicked, as if he just realized something really important."

* * *

"WHAT? No, No, No! I need to get back to my own time! Now!" Harry shouted. He couldn't stay here! He had to go back to his time! Ron and Hermione _needed_ him!

"Calm down Mr. Potter," said Dumbledore.

"No! I won't calm down!"

How could he? He couldn't believe that Dumbledore had just told him to calm down!

"Until I find a way to get you back to your own time period, there is really nothing I can do. You will have to remain here, at Hogwarts."

Harry shook his head frantically. Then he realized something.

"But-but my parents will be here!"

He didn't know whether to be scared or excited. He settled for confused.

"Ah yes," Dumbledore sighed. "I can already guess who your father is…the resemblance is uncanny. But during the time which you will become a student here, you mustn't reveal anything that could alter the future. This is of the utmost importance," Dumbledore urged.

"But-"

"No buts Mr. Potter," cut off Dumbledore.

"There is no point in altering your appearance, as most of the students already saw what you look like. It will certainly…raise alarm bells, but no matter. Now your year and house. I assume you go to Hogwarts in your time?"

Harry hesitated. He still couldn't believe that this was happening.

"Yes," he finally answered. "Gryffindor, end of fifth year."

"Ah," said Dumbledore. "As we are at the start of a new school year, would you be willing to move up to sixth year? I'm sure you do not want to repeat what you have already learnt."

"I-I suppose not," replied Harry.

"How far are you in fifth year?"

"There's only two weeks left until the end of summer," he replied shakily.

"Perfect," replied Dumbledore. "And for now, you will also have to decide on a new last name. Maybe something close to Potter? So you don't easily forget whilst someone is calling you?"

Harry thought for a moment. He couldn't think of anything. After all, how often does a person have to randomly come up with a new last name?

Then, an idea came to mind. He must have saw it in a newspaper or something.

"What about Powers? It's all I could think of."

Dumbledore smiled. "Harry Powers it is then. I shall also have to inform Professor McGonagall of your…situation, seeing as she is Deputy Headmistress."

Harry was silent. He trusted McGonagall. She _had_ been his head of house since he was eleven. And Dumbledore was surprisingly calm about all of this. His stomach twisted.

"I assume you know the way to Gryffindor tower?"

Harry nodded.

"The password is 'Whizpoppers,'" said Dumbledore.

"And a visit to the hospital wing wouldn't go amiss either. I shall announce your… enrollment at dinner."

Harry was about to leave, when Dumbledore spoke.

"One more thing Mr. Potter. Remember you mustn't reveal the future, no matter how tempting."

Harry nodded yet again, and left.

The last thing he saw as he closed the door, was Dumbledore staring at his desk, apparently deep in thought.

**XxX**

As Harry made his way to Gryffindor tower, he stamped his foot. He knew it was rather childish, but he didn't care. He was in a mess.

"No change there," he thought sarcastically. "Fate just loves to mess with me."

Because, you see, things usually did go wrong around Harry Potter.

His body was aching, and he felt a sharp pain in his chest, but he ignored it. He kicked a suit of armour on his way up the stairs. Without warning, it swung it's sword, and he had to duck. His chest gave a sharp lurch.

"Sorry," he called out sulkily.

Everything was so confusing. He was 20 years in the past. At the time of his parent's year's at Hogwarts.

"Only I could get myself in this deep," he thought bitterly. Only him. He sighed again. He wasn't one for self pity, so he figured he should stop feeling sorry for himself.

He couldn't help feeling a_ bit_ excited though. He was finally going to see his parents! Even if it was just for a second.

They probably weren't even in the same year as him.

_I mean, what were the odds?_ Harry sighed, gritting his teeth.

"Whizpoppers."

The Fat Lady swung open.

* * *

"Well…at least you tried," Remus comforted.

"Well I think it went really well," said James stubbornly.

"By going really well, he means Evans screaming in his face that she hated him more than anyone else in Hogwarts," Sirius smirked.

"Yeah, but Padfoot, notice she said 'Hogwarts', not 'universe.' That's what I call progress," grinned James cockily.

"You're unbelievable," muttered Remus.

"But it definitely went better than last time," argued Peter. "Last time, James ended up in the hospital wing, with tentacles, oozing pus all over his body."

"Thank you Wormtail!" yelled James. "Finally, someone who agrees with me! It definitely went well," continued James, smirking, and clapping Peter on the back.

"Well, better than last time," he added.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Thanks to all the people who reviewed, followed and favourited :) Thank you to my beta, Cookies and Cream1234567, who is doing a great job! *Gives out more virtual cookies*  
Would you prefer if I did brownies next time?**

**Anyway, on with the chapter.**

* * *

Chapter 3

Harry reached the sixth year boy's dormitory. There was an extra bed at the end of the row for him. He wondered who else was staying in here.

He made his way over to his bed. There was a chestnut colored trunk, with silver edging around it, and a Hogwarts crest in the middle, at the end of it. He opened it.

Inside there was a set of Hogwarts robes, a bag for his books, a pair of shoes, a bright red toothbrush, three pairs of grey pajama pants, a dozen boxer shorts engraved with racing brooms, which constantly zoomed around the material, and a comb, for his hair.

Harry snorted. He wouldn't need that. It wouldn't make any difference whatsoever.

There was also a set of schoolbooks he would need. He frowned. He didn't have any money with him, so these books probably came out of the school fund. Or maybe they were just spares.

He stuffed his invisibility cloak at the bottom of the trunk.

He still had it, from when he went into Umbridge's office, to check on Sirius. Sirius. Then it hit him, like a cold wave. Sirius was dead. He slumped, and put his head in his hands. A fresh wave of nausea hit him. He felt as if he was going to faint and the pain in his chest was becoming unbearable. He needed to kick something. It was all his fault. He wanted nothing more than to flop back onto his bed, and curl up to sleep, but he supposed he better clean himself up, as he was covered in his own blood, Grawp's blood, and whoever else's.

He was about to make his way to the bathroom, when the door opened, and in stumbled Peter, Remus, Sirius, and…his Dad. James.

**XxX**

"Who the bloody hell are you?" spluttered Sirius.

"Sirius!" scolded Remus. He turned to Harry, looking apologetic. "Excuse him. I'm Remus. Remus Lupin."

He extended a hand.

Harry put out his hand to shake it, but quickly took it back, as it was covered in fresh cuts, and sticky with blood.

"Um…I should probably…clean up," he muttered awkwardly.

James spoke up, looking at Harry strangely.

"Are you-are you sure you don't need the hospital wing mate?"

He looked Harry up and down, shaking his head.

"Scratch that, you _definitely_ need the hospital wing," he said, walking over to grab Harry by the arm.

"No! I'm alright!" protested Harry, dancing out of his reach.

"Really, I'm fine!"

"Um, no. No, you're not," replied James shortly. "James Potter by the way." He gestured to Harry.

"And you are?"

Harry sighed. "Harry Pot-Powers, said Harry quickly. "Harry Powers."

"Nice to meet you then. PADFOOT! Get your arse over here, and help me drag Harry to the hospital wing! Moony, Wormtail, we'll be back in a minute."

"Alright I'm coming!" Sirius yelled. "Don't get your wand in a knot!"

Sirius ran over, and gripped Harry by the shoulder. He felt something like a bone move, as if it were popped out of place. He jumped slightly, and took a sharp breath in. Both Sirius and James took a step back. They looked at him worriedly.

"Do you think you can... make it to the hospital wing?" asked Sirius.

"I'm fine! I don't need the hospital wing!" protested Harry. He staggered. James raised his eyebrows.

"Come on, get down the stairs."

"No," said Harry stubbornly. "I'm fine! Really!"

James glared at him for a moment, but then started to grin madly.

"Padfoot, if you would be kind enough to do the honours."

"Pleasure," replied Sirius, taking a mock bow. He then proceeded to point his wand at Harry, and muttered, "_Mobilicorpus._"

Harry felt himself being lifted up into the air, and with a flick of Sirius's wand, flipped around, as though he was on an invisible stretcher, and floated down the stairs.

"OI! Let me down!" he argued.

"No," replied Sirius, grinning.

"I swear, if you don't put me down I'll-"

" You'll do what?" he laughed. "I _really_ don't think you're in a position to make threats here," said Sirius sweetly.

Harry scowled at them both.

* * *

"Disgraceful," muttered Madame Pomfrey. "Absolutely disgraceful... Should have been brought straight to me… Shouldn't have been _any _dilly-dallying around… To the hospital wing first, and _then_ Dumbledore's office…"

She didn't bother to whisper the last part.

"I quite agree Poppy," said Sirius charmingly. "Especially with injuries like those!"

Madame Pomfrey glared at Sirius, but continued nevertheless. "Yes! A broken collarbone, swollen hand and a fractured wrist!" She glanced at Harry's chest. "So far."

With both Sirius and James watching, she approached Harry's bed, and and with a flick of her wand, ripped off his shirt, before he could say a thing.

He let out a string of swear words, which Sirius thought were quite impressive, and stored inside his brain for later use, if the opportunity arose.

Madame Pomfrey sucked in her breath. "You're in for a rough night," she whispered.

"What is it?" asked James. He rose to his feet to look, but then felt the urge to vomit. "Oh my God," he muttered. "Merlin! "_Holy shit!_"

"Language Potter! Language!" scolded Madame Pomfrey.

"What?" Sirius said eagerly. "What is it?" He made his way over to Harry's bed. "HOLY SHIT!" he shouted.

On Harry's chest, where flesh should have been, there was a gaping hole, and an awful lot of Harry's insides were visible. Sirius gagged. He was going to be sick.

Harry sighed heavily, but then winced in pain. "That bad, huh?" he smiled weakly. He then went an interesting shade of green.

"Get out," ordered Madame Pomfrey.

"What?" stuttered James. "But-"

"GET _OUT_ POTTER! YOU TOO BLACK!"

"Alright!" They ran out the double doors as fast as they could.

**XxX**

Just then burst into the dormitory. Remus looked up. "How was it? Who is he? Is he hurt badly?"

"Slow down Moony! Give us a second!" James and Sirius were bent over, panting, from running up to the dorm.

James got up and sat on his bed. "All I know is that his name is Harry Powers, and he's _really _stubborn! Sirius had to levitate him down the stairs, just to make him go to the hospital wing!"

"Padfoot looks as he's about to get sick," commented Peter.

"I think I am Wormtail," gasped Sirius. "Watch out. I'll be aiming for you."

Peter went white, and hid behind Remus. Remus sighed exasperatedly. "He's only joking Wormtail."

"Oh. That's a relief!"

"Am I?" replied Sirius cheekily. Peter squeaked.

"What's wrong with you Padfoot?" asked Remus.

"It was Powers," replied James, who looked slightly white himself.

Remus raised an eyebrow. "What about him?"

"His chest!" gasped Sirius. "It was like all the flesh had been scooped out or something!" He shuddered.

Remus frowned at the gruesome mental image. "Any other injuries?"

"Broken collarbone, swollen hand and a fractured wrist, not to mention all the cuts and bruises all over him," replied James. "He was in a right state."

"Well, it looks like he'll be staying at Hogwarts for a while," said Remus breezily.

"What?" asked James.

Remus motioned to the extra bed at the end of the room.

"Well, what else would he have been doing in our dorm?" He questioned.

James felt a bit stupid. He hadn't bothered to question _why _Harry was in their dorm room.

"He must have been sorted into Gryffindor," mused Peter.

"Well done Wormtail, for stating the obvious," said Sirius sarcastically. Peter blushed.

Ignoring this exchange, Remus continued, "I wonder where he's from. Dumbledore can't have been expecting him, seeing the way he acted when he came in. And how did he sustain those injuries? It sounded as if he was in a bad way."

"He was," said Sirius. "It was disgusting."

"Well that's exactly what we're going to find out, aren't we?" smirked James, looking around the room with relish.

"What do you mean Prongs?" asked Remus, looking slightly confused.

"Well, we are marauders, aren't we? And he'll be in _our _dorm, so he can't hide forever! He'll have to tell us this stuff."

"Not necessarily," muttered Remus.

James glared at him. "Well if he doesn't, there's nothing wrong with a bit of snooping, is there?"

"I like how you think!" laughed Sirius, high-fiving James.

"Well I don't!" snapped Remus. "It's wrong!"

Peter looked like he was still deciding.

"Oh come on Moony," argued James. "You have to admit, there's something a little suspicious about him! Now I think of it, how did he even get _past _all the enchantments around this place? Spells covering every inch of it, no one outside can get more than fifty feet away from the walls!"

"How do I know?" snapped Remus. "Snooping is still wrong, and I'm not having any part in it!"

"Wait…" said Sirius.

"What?" James and Remus snapped.

"What are we going to do about him? On full moons I mean?"

* * *

Harry was breathing deeply, sweating all over the hospital bed's clean linen sheets. He screwed up his eyes in pain.

He took calming breaths,_ in, out, in, out,_ and tried to collect his thoughts together. He couldn't. No matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't. The pain was too much.

It wasn't his collarbone, wrist or hand he was worried about. Madame Pomfrey had fixed them in a matter of minutes. It was his chest she had trouble with. All she had managed to do so far was stop the blood. There was still a fairly big crater in Harry's chest. Madame Pomfrey had given a series of potions, and tried so many different spells he had lost count.

"Dark magic," she had muttered.

"If you don't mind me asking, what on _earth_ happened to you? How did you get yourself into this state?" she had asked him, while tipping a pain-relieving potion down his throat.

After he had swallowed it, and the pain had eased off a little, he shakily answered, "Sorry, but I can't tell you."

Madame Pomfrey looked indignant. Then her face softened. "But if you don't tell me, how can I possibly help you? It might help me to figure out how to fix…well…_that."_

She gestured towards his chest.

"I still can't tell you." He tried to look apologetic, but only managed a sort of grimace. Madame Pomfrey started to look impatient.

"Why ever not?"

He sighed. "Look, all I can tell you, is that I'm starting Hogwarts this year. Dumbledore will tell you the rest."

"Like how you sustained these atrocious injuries?" she asked hopefully. "So I can try and fix it up?" she added.

"No," said Harry flatly.

She pressed her lips into a thin line. "Fine. Now, I must be off to my office to look for another remedy. I am leaving three pain-relieving potions beside your bed." She sighed heavily. "Until I find a solution, this is all I can do."

She made her way to the office.

The pain-relieving potions were long gone.

**XxX**

The Marauders decided that they'd just have to wing it.

"I mean, it's really none of his business where we go, is it?" asked James, as they were on the way down to dinner.

Remus gave him a pointed look.

"Now you're just being hypocritical Prongs, and you know it!"

James glowered. "Oh shut up, will you?"

They made their way to the Gryffindor table, and sat down.

"Where's the food?" whined Sirius, scowling at the empty plates.

Dumbledore rose from the table. "I have an announcement to make, before everyone has their fill!"

Sirius groaned. "It can't be that important, can it?" he whispered.

"Seriously Padfoot, is food all you think of? I swear, your stomach is like a bottomless pit!" James whispered back.

Sirius pouted. "You never say anything to Moony! And he basically swallows his food whole! Especially steak!"

Remus looked over at them. "Yes, well, I have a special excuse," he smirked. "You have _nothing_ to defend why you eat like you do!"

James nodded. "Yeah Padfoot! Moony has an excuse! You have nothing to say for yourself!"

"Do too!"

"Yeah? And what's that?"

"I'm basically part canine!" said Sirius seriously.

James snorted. "So? You don't see me going around, munching on grass! Or Pete, nibbling on cheese! He hates cheese! Don't you Wormtail?"

Peter nodded. "Yeah," he replied. "Disgusting stuff."

"See?" said James smugly. "And anyway, you've always eaten like that, so really, there's no excuse!"

Sirius was about to retort, when McGonagall spoke. "One moment Headmaster. It doesn't seem that you have absolutely everyone's attention." She gave the marauders such a glare, that Sirius closed his mouth with a snap.

"Ah, thank you Professor," said Dumbledore, with a small smile. "Now, as I was saying, I have an announcement to make."

Every pair of eyes was fixed on Dumbledore.

"We have a new student in our midst. He will be joining sixth year, and has been sorted into Gryffindor."

The hall broke out in whispering, and everyone looked expectantly at the Gryffindor table, to see if they could see the newcomer.

Remus bit his lip. He caught James' eye.

"Where _is_ Mr. Powers?" asked Dumbledore, looking around.

James sighed, and stood up.

"Ah, yes, there he is!" said Dumbledore cheerfully.

"No Professor, It's me, James Potter, Sir."

"Ah," said Dumbledore, the twinkle in his gone. "Is there something wrong?"

"Um… said James awkwardly. "It's about Powers. I know where he is."

"Oh?" said Dumbledore, raising an eyebrow. "And where might that be?"

"The hospital wing," replied James.

"And is he well enough to join us?"

"I don't think so," said James. Sirius shuddered. People immediately started to whisper to one another.

Just then, Madame Pomfrey burst into the great hall. She looked worried. "Headmaster?" she panted. "If I might have a word?"

"Of course Poppy," he said cheerfully. He addressed the students. "If you would excuse me."

Peter frowned. "I wonder what's so important."

Sirius's face lit up. "It must be about Power's condition!" he shouted.

"Shut-up!" whispered Remus.

"Why? Everyone knows he was in a bad way when he came in! They all saw it! He made a scene with Dumbledore!"

He didn't bother to whisper. Everyone was staring at them now, eager for more information on the mysterious new student.

"They mightn't know it's him!" whispered Remus desperately.

"Oh come off it Moony! Dumbledore just mistook _Prongs,_ for him! And everyone saw him this morning, so they obviously know it has to be him!"

"And if they didn't know, they definitely do now," said James sarcastically. "Courtesy of Padfoot here."

Sirius glowered at James. "As I was saying, before I was rudely interrupted-" Remus snorted. "You had technically already finished your sentence."

Sirius glowered once again, but at Remus. "As I was saying, before I was _rudely interrupted_, Pomfrey must want to talk to Dumbledore about Power's condition."

"Why would she want to do that?" Peter asked, looking slightly confused.

Sirius sighed. "Because she mightn't be able to fix him up! Last time_ I_ looked, it was a pretty _big_ hole in his chest!"

"Madame Pomfrey, not being able to fix it? Come off it Pads! Look, I know he's in a bad way, But she'll be able to fix him. She's a healer, for Christ's sake!" said James.

Remus's sandy-brown hair fell into his eyes. He brushed it away quickly. "Look, even though it's most unlikely, just because she's a healer, doesn't mean she'll be able to fix it straight away…"

"HA!" I've got Moony on my side! None of you can win now!" Sirius cackled madly.

Just then food appeared on the table, and Sirius got distracted. Remus licked his lips. "Ooohhh, steak and kidney pie!" James rolled his eyes. Peter was busy stuffing himself with chicken wings. James bit his lip, but finally caved in. He grabbed as much shepherd's pie as he could reach.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Okay, I'm going to try and update regularly now. Thanks to everyone who followed favourited, and reviewed! *Gives out virtual brownies* (I worked really hard on those.) And thank you to my amazing beta, Cookies and Cream1234567! Okay, so on with the chapter. **

* * *

Chapter 4

Harry awoke with a jolt. He groaned with pain, and sank back down on his pillows. He heard the doors open, and the faint sound of voices. He could just make out a few words.

"Beyond me…Can't find…Dark magic…chest…Can't just leave it…"

He heard soft footfalls, and the curtains around his bed opened gently. Harry found himself looking at Professor Dumbledore. Dumbledore surveyed Harry. He felt a little uncomfortable.

"Ah. Yes, I quite see what you mean Poppy." He looked slightly alarmed. He looked at Harry. "Is it alright if I also inform Madame Pomfrey about your…situation?"

Harry thought for a moment. He supposed it was. He nodded his head slightly. Dumbledore gave him a small smile, and disappeared around the curtain. Harry heard Dumbledore whispering for a moment. He heard Madame Pomfrey gasp. "Impossible!"

He heard more whispering, and then Dumbledore, followed by a white-faced Madame Pomfrey, opened his curtains, and stepped around his bed. Madame Pomfrey spoke.

"As I was saying Headmaster, I've tried everything, absolutely everything, and nothing I've tried is working!" She seemed a bit hysterical now.

"I may know something that will work…" said Dumbledore. "But in the meantime, It would be no harm to fetch a pain-relieving Potion. He'll need it," Dumbledore grimaced.

Madame Pomfrey looked politely amazed. "Headmaster? Maybe I should do it?"

Dumbledore gave her a kind smile. "Oh no need Poppy, no need at all. It's very old magic. Ancient in fact. Almost as ancient as me! Even more so! So I'd better try it."

Madame Pomfrey looked a bit flustered, but she simply replied, "Oh course Headmaster," and scurried away to get Harry a pain-relieving potion. Harry didn't understand why she didn't just summon it. Just then, she ran back into the room, and placed the potion on the bedside table.

"Here we are," she muttered, and perched herself down on the chair by Harry's bed.

Dumbledore took his wand from his robe pocket. "As soon as I start the spell, Mr. Potter, drink the potion."

Harry nodded, and took a deep breath. Dumbledore flourished his wand, and started to mutter under his breath. Harry grabbed the potion from the bedside table, and gulped it back. He then felt so much pain he couldn't handle it. It was excruciating. He tried not to, but he couldn't help it.

He screamed.

**XxX**

Remus stopped as they were walking back to the common room. "Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" replied James.

Remus shook his head. "It's probably nothing."

They were just about to go, when they faintly heard what sounded like a male scream.

"There it is again!" said Remus. "You all _had_ to have heard that!"

"Its coming from the hospital wing!" shouted Sirius.

They looked at each other.

"Let's go investigate!" Sirius bellowed.

They heard the screams again. They ran back towards the hospital wing, and stopped right outside the doors. They could hear the screams very clearly now. It sounded as though someone was being tortured.

James' eyes hardened. He threw open the doors to the hospital wing, and ran down the room, Sirius, Remus and Peter at his heels.

They all gasped. Dumbledore had his wand held high, and pointed at Power's chest. They could see his skin, slowly creeping forward, knitting itself back together, criss-crossing over his chest. Some of his insides were slowly being sucked back in. But the screaming was the worst.

James couldn't stand that scream. He recoiled. Madame Pomfrey rose from her seat beside the bed, looking murderous.

"GET OUT! OUT! NOW!"

They ran from the room and slammed the doors behind them.

* * *

Sirius was currently busy, getting sick, all over Remus' shoes.

Remus sighed heavily. "Charming," he muttered. Remus crinkled his nose when he picked up the scent of the puke.

Sirius came up for air, and shuddered. "That was horrible!" He lurched.

Remus stepped back quickly.

Sirius stood up. "I'm all right now." He was an odd shade of green. He looked down at Remus' shoes. "Might want to wash them," he said unabashedly.

Remus scowled. "Who said anything about washing them? These are going straight in the dump."

Peter was trembling over in a corner, muttering to himself, and looking over his shoulder every few seconds.

James was shaking. "That scream…"

**XxX**

Harry felt like he was on fire. He writhed and squirmed, like he was getting tortured. This wasn't quite on the level of the Cruciatus curse, but it was fairly close.

He vaguely saw figures, stopping quite close to his bed, but he barely noticed them. All he could think about was the pain. But almost as soon as it had started, it was gone.

He panted like he had run a marathon. So he wasn't dead. Everything was going to be okay.

"Done," breathed Dumbledore. He looked troubled. "Accio pain-relieving potion." It came zooming towards him, and he held it out to Harry. "Here, take another," said Dumbledore, and he pushed it towards him, and sat down with a sigh.

Harry took it with trembling hands, and swallowed it in one go. Ah…sweet relief. He sighed with happiness. His chest was still aching severely, but he hardly cared anymore. It was over. He looked at Madame Pomfrey. "Can I go now?"

She gasped in horror. "Certainly not! You must stay here, until I am absolutely sure you are fit to leave!"

Harry scowled, but knew that he had no other option.

She continued. "There will most likely be scars, but you are extremely lucky Professor Dumbledore knew how to fix you up. It could have gotten a nasty infection, and if it did…with and injury like that, only Merlin knows what it could have led to," she said grimly.

Harry looked at Dumbledore. "Thanks Professor," he muttered.

"You are most welcome Mr. Potter. I am very sorry that you had to be subjected to such…pain."

Harry laughed. "Don't worry about it."

Dumbledore frowned. He wondered what the future brought. It didn't look like a very bright place, judging by this strange boy. Not that outside of Hogwarts was a ray of sunshine at the present moment, either.

He said his goodbyes, rose from his chair, and walked back to his office.

* * *

Harry slept like he hadn't slept in days, with a dreamless sleep potion. He woke up. Was the whole thing a dream? It must have been. He marveled at his imagination for a moment.

He then distinctly remembered taking a dreamless sleep potion. He looked down at his chest, where huge red slashes ran right across it. Oh, well, shit. It wasn't a dream. It was real. Harry closed his eyes tightly for a moment. His parents were alive. They were also sixteen. He couldn't tell them anything. Sirius was dead. And now he was alive.

Harry felt his eyes watering, as he gripped his hair, hard.

Everything was so messed up.

He heard heavy footfalls, and looked up, as Madame Pomfrey came striding over. Could he leave now?

"This will only take a second Mr. Powers," she said briskly. "Or Potter, I suppose I should call you." She gave him a small smile. She poured a few drops of acidy looking green potion on the big red slashes that ran across his chest. Big puffs of greenish yellow smoke rose from it, but he didn't mind. It stung slightly, but Harry didn't complain. He hardly cared right now.

The slashes closed up. They now looked several days old.

"There," Madame Pomfrey announced. "I unfortunately can't do anything about the scarring, but at least it's healed properly now."

Harry fidgeted, and then looked beside him. There was a white shirt on the bedside table. He grabbed it, and pulled it over his birds nest hair. He gave Madame Pomfrey his biggest smile. "Thanks _so_ much Madame Pomfrey." He paused. "Can I go now?"

She pursed her lips. "Yes…well I suppose so…but-"

Before she could change her mind, Harry jumped up from the bed, and ran out of the double doors as quick as he could, shouting "Thanks!" as he slammed the doors behind him.

Madame Pomfrey sighed, but then smiled to herself. "Teenagers," she thought. "I'll never understand them."

**XxX**

Harry raced up the maze of stairs, and round the corridors as fast as he could, jumping over the trick steps easily, knocking into a few people on the way.

Not that there were many people around anyway, as it was roughly seven o'clock in the morning. He stopped in front of the Fat Lady, quickly gave her the password, and shot up the stairs, and threw open the door that lead to his dormitory. He heard a loud groan. "Oops," he thought guiltily. He had forgotten the Marauders would be sleeping.

He didn't feel all that particularly sorry anyway.

He ran to his trunk, threw it open, and extracted his Hogwarts robes. He heard a creak, and looked up to see a disheveled Sirius, looking extremely irritated.

"Oi! What do you think you're doing?"

Harry stared at him. He squashed the urge to hug him. It made him feel so relieved, seeing Sirius alive and well.

The boy in front of him looked so different to the Sirius he knew. He was well built, and handsome, and his stormy grey eyes were bright.

The Sirius Harry had come to know was very thin, and his eyes were sunken and waxy, and had lost the brightness they had now.

Even if Sirius hadn't suffered as much as the other prisoners, Azkaban had affected him greatly.

Harry looked at the floor. "Getting changed," he replied shortly.

Sirius scowled at him. "I can see that! Why so early though?" he whined. "You interrupted my beauty sleep!"

"Could you two keep it down?" James hissed, while pulling his pillow over his ears.

Sirius narrowed his eyes, and looked around the room at his sleeping dorm mates, and then, at himself. "If I can't sleep, no one can!" he bellowed.

He then made his way over to James' bed, and proceeded to poke him awake.

"Oi! Get up!" he screamed in James' ear.

James groaned, and rolled over. "Piss off," he mumbled.

Sirius grinned. "Alright then," he whispered, rubbing his hands together. He maneuvered himself up onto the edge of James' bed, and started to jump, stamping on James' face in the process.

James screamed. "ALRIGHT! I'm getting up!"

Sirius stopped jumping, but since James wasn't moving, gave him a hard kick in the side for motivation.

James hissed in protest, and sat up, his hair even more disheveled than usual. "I swear to God Padfoot, I'M GOING TO RIP OFF YOUR HEAD AND FEED IT TO A HIPPOGRIFF!"

Sirius snorted. "How nice," he responded. "Now for Moony," he whispered, an evil glint in his eyes.

Remus was lying sprawled across his bed, one arm over the side, trailing along the floor.

Sirius made his way over to Remus' bed, and bent down so he was level with his ear. Harry watched, amused, as Sirius began to sing quite loudly, and off key. He had a truly horrible voice. It reminded Harry of the sound of fingernails, running down a blackboard, of a screeching kitten with tonsillitis, and concluded in his mind, if he were ever to go to hell, it couldn't be much worse than this. Harry then realized, that with Remus' heightened senses, it would have been torture, as he could probably hear it ten times louder than Harry could, as though it was being screeched through a magical megaphone.

Remus sat bolt upright, and put both hands over his ears, wincing.

"Make it stop," he muttered. "Someone _please,_ make it stop. SHUT UP!" he finally screeched.

Sirius only grinned, and continued to sing even louder.

Remus rocked himself back and forth, muttering like a mad man.

"What do you want? I'll do _anything! _JUST MAKE IT STOP!" he bellowed.

Suddenly comprehension dawned on Remus' face, and he scrambled out of bed, and landed on the floor with a thud.

"There!" he pleaded. "I'm up! Now _please,_ shut up, and stop singing! STOP!" he looked on the verge of tears now.

Sirius stopped abruptly, and grinned. "Two down, one to go," he said rather loudly.

He made his way over Peter's bed, leaving Remus on the floor, looking quite demented.

Harry wondered how Peter hadn't woken up during all that racket Sirius had made, but soon found out that Peter was...immune.

Sirius tried _everything._ He prodded and poked, jumped on his mattress, kicked him in the head and even sang in his ear, while Remus moaned, and tried to shut himself in his trunk, just to block out the noise.

Sirius ran out of ideas. He frowned. Peter was a hopeless case. Then Sirius' eyes lit up, as inspiration suddenly struck. He retrieved his wand from the table beside his bed, and ran back over to Peter. He pointed his wand at Peter's face, and muttered _"Aguamenti."_

A jet of water sprayed from Sirius' wand, and hit Peter squarely in the face. Peter thrashed around for a moment, and then sat up abruptly, getting tangled in his bedcovers.

"Whatshappening? Arghhh! I'm drowning!" Peter coughed, and then snorted water from his nose.

Sirius laughed. "Don't be thick Wormtail, it was just me!"

"Why?" Peter choked out, while trying to roll himself out from the tangles of bed covers and sheets.

The lid of Remus trunk was thrown open, and Remus himself popped his head out. "Brilliant question Wormtail! Why Sirius? _Why?_ You _promised _back in Fourth year that you'd never subject me to that kind of _torture_ again!"

Sirius sniffed. "If_ I_ don't get to sleep, no one does," he said simply. "Now, chop chop!"

Remus groaned. "Sirius, this is _ridiculous!"_

Sirius opened his mouth widely. Remus looked panicked. "I mean, of _course_ we're all up, aren't we?"

He looked around the room at his fellow marauders. Everyone stared at James, who was nodding sleepily, before dropping back onto his pillow.

Sirius pursed his lips in a very McGonagall sort of expression.

He marched over to James' bed, raised his leg, and gave his head a deft kick.

James' eyes shot open. "OW! What was that for?" He sat up, rubbing his head furiously.

"To get you up," said Sirius simply. "Now come on, hurry up!" He slapped James on the cheek.

James looked murderous. "I am_ so_ going to get you later," he muttered dangerously.

Sirius just grinned, looking around their dorm. If you could _even_ call it a dorm. More like a toxic waste dump, thought Harry. They're even worse than me and Ron, and that's saying _something_. There were clothes and socks strewn all over the floor and Sirius' mattress looked suspiciously lumpy. James had tacked Quidditch posters all over his bit of wall, mostly consisting of _The Tornadoes._

There were stacks of books under Remus' bed, but even his area of the floor wasn't particularly clean.

Harry was sure he could see a mouldy old slab of Honeydukes chocolate under Peter's bed, as well as a good few socks.

And Sirius…Well his sleeping area was a mess. There was ink smudges on the headboard of his four poster, and dirty clothes piled up under his bed, and a pair of underwear was threatening to teeter off the edge of the topmost pole. He had posters of _Witch Wonders_ pin up girls littered all over his wall, as well as a picture of a muggle motorbike, and a Gryffindor scarf wrapped around the end of his bed.

"What choo up so early for anyway?" said James, still massaging his head.

"Him," said Sirius.

Harry started to edge away.

"Who?" said James, looking slightly confused.

Sirius pointed at Harry dramatically. "Powers! Came clattering in, all hours of the morning! Outrageous! Woke me up he did."

Harry tried to look innocent, but since he had the face of James Potter, failed.

James stared at him. "You? WHY? Look what you've-" James stopped. "Wait. You're out of the hospital wing!"

Harry looked at him awkwardly. "Um…yeah."

Remus poked his head from the trunk. He looked at Sirius suspiciously, before jumping out, the lid of the trunk swinging shut behind him.

He made his way over to Harry, and gave him a smile.

"Hi. We met the other day. I'll reintroduce myself since...well...we didn't get to do much talking, as you were carted off the hospital wing by these two crackpots."

He gestured to James and Sirius.

"Oi!"

Remus ignored them. He stuck out his hand. "Remus Lupin."

Harry shook it. "Harry Powers."

Remus gave him a lazy grin. "Sorry about...this." He waved his hands around the room wildly.

Harry laughed "It's alright. It was my fault anyway, for waking Sirius up."

Peter suddenly spoke. "So...how's your chest?"

Harry glared at him. Trust that rat to bring it up. Peter shrank back under Harry's gaze. The others appeared not to notice. "Fine," said Harry through gritted teeth. His knuckles were going white, as he was trying to suppress the urge to strangle Peter.

"Oh yeah!" said James. "Doing okay?"

Harry nodded.

"How'd it happen?"

He frowned for a moment, and then looked at the floor. "Doesn't matter," he said, without looking up.

Sirius cut in. "Dumbledore had to fix it, didn't he?" He shuddered and gripped his bed, holding on as if for support.

Harry frowned. "How-" He then remembered the vague figures he had seen. He bit his lip. "You saw that?"

James looked sheepish. "Well, we were passing by chance..." Harry raised an eyebrow. James scowled. "Oh alright! We heard you scream, okay?"

Sirius interrupted. "Why couldn't' Madame Pomfrey fix it? Was it painful? It must have been, I nearly got sick— " Remus scoffed— "when I seen your skin,_ Knitting_ itself back togeth-" Sirius stopped at the look on Harry's face. He felt slightly guilty. "Sorry," he muttered. He looked up again. "But what did it _feel_ like?"

Remus looked uncomfortable, James looked curious and Peter looked slightly fearful.

Harry stared at a small crack in the floor. "I don't want to talk about it."

"But-"

"Padfoot," Remus warned. "Drop it."

Sirius looked annoyed, and James slightly disappointed. Peter looked as if he couldn't care less.

Harry looked up again. "Are you lot coming down to breakfast?"

James nodded. "Yeah. Yeah we are. Give us two minutes." Harry nodded.

While James was getting ready, Harry took a good long look at him. They really did look almost exactly alike. Harry was glad to see that James didn't _strut_, like Snape had told him, but walked with an air of confidence, and his head held high. James had a lot more confidence than Harry ever had. His warm hazel eyes twinkled, and soaked in everything around him. Harry smiled to himself as he watched James getting ready.

He hunted under his bed for his Hogwarts robes, extracted them, and threw them on over his head, took a trip to the bathroom and brushed his teeth, and took one look at the hairbrush Remus had handed him and threw it aside. Harry knew the feeling. It wouldn't make a difference anyway. The rest of the marauders took a few minutes longer, especially Sirius, who couldn't find his toothbrush. They all sat, waiting for him at the end of James' bed. There was a very awkward silence. James was quick to break it.

"So...Harry."

Harry didn't like the sound of this.

"What's brought you to Hogwarts?"

Harry swallowed. He took a quick search through his brain for something, anything that could help him.

"Oh, well, Hogwarts is supposed to be one of the best school's there is, from what I've heard. Just a change of scenery really. My Aunt and Uncle want to give me the best education possible."

Harry laughed silently. This was so far from the truth it was at the point where he would call it ridiculous. James wasn't buying it either.

"How come you didn't come by train, like the rest of us?"

"Um...I was busy, and I arrived a little late," he said lamely.

James narrowed his eyes. "Busy? Doing what? You made quite an entrance."

Harry was getting restless. He didn't know the Marauders were so nosy, though he supposed he couldn't say much either. At least now he knew where he got it from.

"Just-just stuff. My portkey malfunctioned as well, so I didn't arrive _exactly_ where I was supposed to." This was sort of true, he mused.

James nodded, but still looked extremely suspicious. Harry sighed, but couldn't blame him. Well, what was he supposed to say? He was a terrible liar.

James spoke again. "Did you say you lived with your Aunt and Uncle? What about your parents? Are they away or something?"

Remus was staring to looked extremely uncomfortable now, and Peter simply curious.

Harry looked James in the eye, for the first time, really taking in that this was his _father_, standing in front of him in the flesh.

"My parents are dead."

James felt like bashing his head off of something. He gawped at Harry for a moment, but quickly tried to redeem himself. "Oh. Sorry, mate."

"It's alright," replied Harry, even though it wasn't. His_ Dad_ was standing right in front of him. "It happened when I was a baby."

James didn't ask anymore questions after that. Instead he took to pestering Sirius.

"OI! PADFOOT! HURRY UP WOULD YOU? THAT MIRROR IS GOING TO CRACK ONE DAY, IF YOU DON'T STOP STARING INTO IT!"

Remus rolled his eyes, and Peter smiled. Sirius shouted back.

"ALRIGHT! HOLD YOUR HIPPOGRIFFS! I'M BRUSHING MY TEETH!"

A moment later, he came bounding into the room, threw open the door, and practically hopped down the stairs. He looked behind him. "Hurry up you lot!"

Remus pursed his lips, but broke into a grin. They made their way down to the common room, and out through the Fat lady. They were just going down the staircase, when James groaned.

"Forgot my transfiguration book. Go on ahead. I'll catch up."

They shrugged and continued down the stairs, while James bounded back in the direction of the Gryffindor common room. "We'll show you around later," remarked Sirius. Harry nodded. No one had said anything about Harry's sudden appearance, which felt quite nice for a change. No staring in his direction, or whispering people, debating whether he was losing it or not. A good few people greeted them though. One person greeted them all by name. It was a fifth year Ravenclaw boy.

"Hi Remus, Sirius, James!" He missed out on Peter, but settled for nodding and beaming at him instead, and moved on.

Sirius hooted with laughter. "Everyone thinks you're James!"

Remus smiled knowingly. "I was wondering why no one had questioned your sudden 'appearance'. I should have realized it sooner, because of course-"

Remus was cut off, just as they were entering the great hall.

"POTTER!"

Harry spun around, but suddenly remembered that he wasn't Potter anymore. Not here anyway. Just then the breath caught in his throat.

A girl with a heart shaped face, long flowing red hair, and bright emerald green eyes that matched his own, was staring up at him, looking furious.

His Mum.

Lily Evans.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry I took a while, I'm on holidays right now, using one of those computers where you feed it money. And my Brother's laptop broke, so he's been Hogging mine recently. *Sigh* So tell me what you think! If you have questions, don't be shy! **

**Remember: Reviews are good for everyone. A review a day will keep the doctor away :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Thank you to anyone who followed/favourited/Reviewed. *Gives more virtual brownies***

**And thanks to my beta, Cookies and Cream1234567! We've edited the first chapter a bit, so if anyone's interested in reading it again... (There aren't any major changes though, so it's optional. One more thing; I know Lily doesn't like Snape as much as she used to, but she still cares for him. They were best friends after all. (You need to know this for the chapter) So on with the chapter.**

* * *

Chapter 5

Harry's mouth was agape. His mum was standing right in front of him. Lily Evans. His train of thought was broken by none other than Lily herself. She looked absolutely murderous.

"What did you do? Severus refuses point blank to leave the Slytherin common room! I swear Potter, whatever you did to him, undo it, Now!"

Harry's jaw nearly hit the floor. She thought he was James! "But-" he started.

She ground her teeth together. "Stop it Potter. Just stop. Trying to defend yourself? Don't be so pathetic! I know you did it! Because, honestly, when do you not do it?"

She looked behind Harry, where Remus was apparently making frantic hand signals at her, and Sirius had probably cracked at rib already, from laughing. Harry could hear him howling behind him.

Lily glared in their direction. "Stop Remus, really! Don't bother to try and defend him, because you know as well as I do that he did it! And Black, wipe that smirk off your face, because you won't be laughing for long," she snarled.

She turned back to face Harry. "And you! The worst of the lot! Go-back-there-and-put-him-right!"

She jabbed his chest with a finger after every word. He felt a fleeting pain every time she did that. But he just stood there, gawping at her. He couldn't believe this was happening. Literally. This seemed to infuriate her even more.

"Say something! Ugh, you are so-"

She was cut off by the voice of none other than the accused himself.

"Is there a problem Evans?" James smirked.

Lily's mouth dropped open. She looked between Harry and James. And then her mouth twisted.

"Is this some sort of _joke_ Potter?" Her voice was slowly rising. "Because this time, you've gone too far!"

She was looking between Harry and James, still unsure which was the real James Potter. James howled with laughter. So did Sirius. Remus looked panicked. He made his way over to Lily, weaving through a couple of students.

"Look Lily-" he started.

Just then, Dumbledore rose. "Ah!" he said cheerfully. "There's the new student now! Harry Powers everyone! The new Sixth year Gryffindor!"

Harry smiled awkwardly, and raised his hand a fraction, in greeting. Lily's eyes widened, and so did everyone else's, though for a different reason. So this was the boy who had burst into the Great Hall, covered in blood a few days ago! The students immediately started to gossip.

"Are we sitting down?" asked Peter.

"Yeah, Wormtail," replied Remus. "Come on." He addressed the rest of them. Harry and the Marauders made their way through the crowd, to sit at the Gryffindor table. Lily scooted in to sit beside Harry, red in the face.

She bit her lip, and addressed him.

"I-I'm so sorry!" she stuttered. "It's just...you look so much like Potter, and...and...I just assumed, since you were with-with..." she trailed off.

Harry laughed. "It's alright," he soothed, as he scooped bacon onto his plate. "I can see why you'd get mixed up. Its sort of...weird for me too. The only real difference between me and James is the eyes."

He grinned. "But people don't really pay attention to those sort of little details." Harry knew he was pushing it, but he couldn't help it.

"Oh yeah," said Lily. "I-I didn't notice." A strange look crossed her face. She looked at Harry more closely. "The eyes, and...that funny looking scar."

Sirius, who was listening in, scrutinized Harry closely. "Oh yeah!" he grinned. "Like...like lightning! _Wicked_!"

Harry felt uneasy. He nervously flattened his hair down.

Sirius continued. "So what happened? How'd you get it?"

Harry picked at his bacon. "Happened when I was little," he said absent mindedly.

Sirius nodded. "Yeah, but how?"

Harry shrugged. "Just-just around," he lied. Even in his head it sounded stupid.

Sirius quirked an eyebrow. "Just around?" he said disbelievingly.

Harry shrugged again. "Yeah."

Sirius was looking at him funnily. "Okay," he said. He quickly went back to devouring his toast, cereal and sausages.

Lily spoke again. "Well, back to my apology," she sighed.

Harry shook his head. "No need to apolo-" he started, but Lily cut him off.

"No. There is. There's every reason to apologize. There was no excuse for the way I acted, whether you're Potter's double or not," she said firmly.

He opened his mouth, but she shook her head fiercely. "No, really. You probably had no idea who I was, and I came out of nowhere, and start to screech at you." She paused, and glanced at him. "Here comes the apology part. I am really, really, thoroughly sorry!"

She grinned up at him, glad to have gotten that out of the way. "Lily Evans by the way. Harry Powers right?"

Harry grinned back. "Yeah."

They beamed at each other for a moment, until a look of guilt crossed Lily's face. "Severus!" she gasped.

Harry felt thoroughly annoyed. He had forgotten Snape would be here too. Joy.

"Excuse me for a moment," Lily said sweetly.

She then turned to face James, who was sitting across from her, staring at her dreamily, oblivious to everything else around him. He was most likely fantasizing. Harry wrinkled his nose disgustedly.

Lily's expression turned from sweet and kind, to anger and disgust the moment James was in her line of vision.

"Potter," she hissed across to him.

"Mmmmmm?" he said dreamily.

Lily gritted her teeth for a moment, and gave his head a sharp flick.

James jumped, looking slightly annoyed. "What was that for?" he whined. "That was where Sirius kicked me this morning."

Lily looked murderous "Stop whining and listen!" she spat. "Severus refuses to leave the Slytherin common room. And I know you had something to do with it! So go and put him right!"

Evident amusement crossed James' features. "What makes you think I did it?" He smirked. "Could have been anybody."

"Because you always do it!" she screeched.

"Well, so what if I did?"

"Then FIX it!"

James pretended to look deep in thought for a moment. "You know what? I don't think I will. Old Snivelly deserves it."

Lily's eyes flashed dangerously. " Whatever you did, Fix-it NOW!" she yelled.

"No," replied James. He took a bite out of his toast.

"FIX IT!"

James chewed slowly, and swallowed. "What part of 'NO' don't you understand Evans?"

Lily gripped the table with both hands, hard. "You are so infuriating!"

James smirked. "Tell you what. I'll make you a little deal. You go out with me-and I'll fix Snivellus up for you."

He stuck his hand across the table. "Deal?"

"NO! I can't believe you! You'll never change, will you? You'll always be the same. Swaggering down the corridors, basking in the attention, jinxing people just because you can! And I'm sick of it!"

With a swish of her long red hair, she turned away from James, and around to face Harry.

"If you ever need any help, or have a problem, you can always come to me." Harry noticed she said this a bit stiffly. "It's my duty, as a prefect. Hopefully, we can get to know each other a little better, over the next few days. Sorry again for the, er...mishap, earlier. I'll see you around, Harry."

And with that, she started making her way towards the doors of the Great Hall, but turned back to look over her shoulder.

"One last piece of advice. Try to avoid hanging out with the marauders, unless you're _looking_ for trouble."

She then turned on her heel, and almost ran from the Great Hall. Harry noticed two girls glance at each other, and follow in her wake.

He turned back to look at James, who looked hurt, but quickly recovered. "She seriously doesn't know what she's missing," he said cheerfully.

Remus looked across at James with interest. "What did you do to Snape, Prongs?"

Sirius looked up from his breakfast. "Yeah! Go on, spill! What did you do? Why didn't you tell us?" he pouted.

James laughed, and leaned over the table across to his friends, glancing at around the Great Hall as he did so.

"Well..."

* * *

As they were entering the crowded Transfiguration classroom, the Marauders quickly snatched the last four seats in the back row. Harry scanned the room quickly. There were only two remaining seats, side by side, in the row in front of the Marauders.

He sat down in one with a sigh, and extracted the necessary books from his bag. He glanced behind him. The Marauders were huddled together, whispering to one another. He turned around dejectedly. It was only the first day anyway. He couldn't expect them to take him in.

He heard quick footsteps, and turned to see Lily rushing in the door, her bag over her shoulder. She was looking frantically around for a seat.

Harry decided he'd call her over.

"Lily!" He gestured to the seat beside him. She frowned for a moment, and glanced over to where James was chatting with the Marauders in the row behind. Her face visibly relaxed.

She rushed over, and slid into the empty seat beside Harry's.

"Thanks," she said gratefully.

"No problem," he replied. As she was pulling out her books, Harry decided to try and get to know a little more about his mother, even if it was something as small as her favourite subject. He had never had a proper conversation with her before today, at least not one that he could remember.

"Do you like Transfiguration?"

Lily wrinkled her nose. "It's not my best subject. But I do try hard. I much prefer charms though." Her face lit up at the mention of charms. She turned to Harry.

"What's your favourite subject?"

Harry grinned. "Defence against the Dark Arts." Thoughts of the DA flitted across his mind. It made him slightly sad. But he was going to get back soon.

Lily furrowed her brow for a moment. She thought about how Harry had come bursting in a few days ago, severely injured. Defence was his favourite subject? That was rather strange. Well, maybe not that strange, she mused. _I'm probably being paranoid_. She wondered for a moment what had really happened to him. Everyone was wondering that really, from almost the second he had stepped through those doors. The gossip had just gotten worse when it was announced he was to become a new student here. She pulled out of her momentary thoughts, by Harry.

"So...do you like Defence?"

Lily thought about it for a moment. She supposed it wasn't too bad. "Yeah, I quite enjoy it."

"So, who's the defence teacher this year?" Harry asked her. He'd bet his Firebolt it was a different teacher to last year. He proved right.

"We haven't met him yet," replied Lily. "We had a free period Monday. His name is Professor Blair, from what I've heard. We have him tomorrow I think."

Before Harry had a chance to reply, He heard sharp footsteps, and McGonagall came striding in. She shut the door discreetly behind her.

"First of all, no talking." She shot a glare at the Marauders in the back row, who were still chatting.

Sirius gave her a charming smile, and called across the room to her.

"Oh Minnie, how long has it been? Nine hours? Imagine! Nine hours, since I last saw you! How in Merlin's beard did I manage?"

Most of the class laughed, but Lily shook her head disgustedly, and McGonagall gritted her teeth.

"A warning. You will call me Professor, or the next time it will be points from Gryffindor!"

Sirius mock pouted. "Oh Minnie, don't be such a spoilsport!"

McGonagall narrowed her eyes. "Five points from Gryffindor!"

Sirius quickly backtracked. _"Wait,_ it was an accident! Slip of the tongue!"

McGonagall simply glared at him, pursing her lips. Sirius smiled widely, showing all of his teeth.

"So...five points to Gryffindor?"

"No!" McGonagall barked. Harry was sure she was trying to burn a hole into Sirius's head.

She then continued on, while Sirius sulked for a few seconds, but quickly switched to looking bored.

"We are going to be continuing with the theory of human transfiguration for this class. This is immensely complex, not to mention dangerous magic. It is when one transfigures human body parts, or an entire human being, into another form. It will most definitely come up in your NEWTS, and is necessary for certain jobs, take an Auror for example. They would need it for disguise, to change their appearance, if necessary."

A blond haired boy whom Harry didn't know raised his hand.

"Couldn't they just use Polyjuice potion Professor?"

McGonagall turned on her heel to face the boy.

"They could, but not everyone has Polyjuice potion hiding in their robes pocket Mr. Wilson. That particular potion takes a month to brew, and it would be very inconvenient, not to mention time consuming, to have to continuously brewing it, so every Auror could have a fair supply. And also, an essential part of that potion requires a hair from the person you are impersonating. And Aurors would most likely not want to look like one particular person."

She turned back to face the whole class. "Can anyone tell me who does not have to use Polyjuice potion, to change their appearance?"

Lily's hand shot up. Sirius also raised his hand, almost lazily.

"Ms. Evans?"

Lily cleared her throat. "A Metamorphmagus Professor. A Metamorphmagus is a person who can change their appearance at will, with little to no effort, and without the use of a wand. They can mimic almost anyone's appearance, which can make them dangerous, depending on what type of person it is. They do have to be registered with the ministry, sort of like an Animagus."

Harry could almost feel James's smirk, burning into his head.

Lily continued. "But unlike an Animagus, no one can tell if it's them or not, if they're looking for them of course. If they have any peculiar markings, they can simply change them. They have complete control over how they look, unless they become extremely depressed, and only then their abilities are affected. You can rarely find a Metamorphmagus if they don't want to be found, and they are also extremely rare."

Professor McGonagall nodded, satisfied. "Quite. Take five points for Gryffindor. Metamorphmagi can skip almost all of sixth and seventh year transfiguration, as it mostly consists of human transfiguration, which isn't necessary for them to learn, although extremely useful."

Sirius was still waving his hand about in the air, as if conducting an orchestra. McGonagall glared at him.

"What _is_ it Black?"

"Evans got one of her facts wrong."

Lily looked incredulous for a second, and slowly twisted around in her chair to face Sirius. "Excuse me Black?"

"I said, you got one of your facts wrong," he repeated, slowly, as if she was stupid.

McGonagall's face hardened. "No, I don't think she-" Sirius cut her off.

"But she did!" he protested.

"And what exactly did she get wrong?"

Sirius grinned. "Well, she said, that Metamorphmagi have complete control over how they look-"

"They do," Lily growled.

Sirius smirked. "Now, Now Evans. Didn't your Mum ever teach you manners? It's rude to interrupt, isn't it Prongs?"

He nudged James.

"Oh yeah," James grinned. "Very rude-"

"Shut up Pott-"

"Ah, ah!" said James, reaching over to wag a finger in her face. "There you go again!"

He turned to Sirius, a permanent smirk, plastered across his face. "Continue Padfoot."

Sirius nodded, trying to hide a grin, and coughed before he continued. "Ahem. Now Metamorphmagi don't have complete control over how they look. Well, the ones under seven years of age, anyway."

Lily gritted her teeth. "How do you know Black? It's not like you have any personal experience."

Sirius laughed, rather loudly. "Actually, I do Evans!" Seeing the confused looks everyone was giving him, he explained.

"My cousin is a Metamorphmagus. She's only four, so while she can change her appearance, if she wants to, if she gets angry, and throws a fit, her hair starts to change all different colours. Funny to watch really." He looked thoughtful for a moment. "Sometimes, I provoke her, just to see. Once, she got so angry, her nose changed into a pig snout! Andromeda never takes her eye off her in public, because you never know when Dora's going to change. She doesn't tell you, she just _does_ it. And if she does it, without Dromeda watching, how does she know that she isn't just some random little kid, running around the street? You can't take her into muggle public either. It would freak them out." Sirius grinned. "So, when she gets angry, she can't actually help changing. Shouldn't be so quick to judge, Evans."

Lily scowled at him, but said nothing.

McGonagall looked slightly annoyed. "Open your books everyone. Page nineteen please."

Sirius whined. "Professor..." He drawled.

"What?" McGonagall snapped.

"What about my points? Aren't you going to award me points, for me being good, and answering a question?"

McGonagall sniffed. "You did not answer my question. Ms. Evans did."

"Yeah, but I was intending to! That's better than nothing, isn't it? And she got it _wrong,_ so I helpfully corrected her!"

Lily whipped around, her cheeks red. "I did not get it wrong! I-"

"Enough!" said McGonagall sharply. "I will not allow for such childish behavior to carry on in my class! Now everyone open your books, page nineteen!"

After they had finished reading the paragraph, McGonagall tapped the board sharply with her wand, and a complicated looking diagram, along with notes appeared. They took it down, while McGonagall proceeded to tell them different stories, where wizards used Human Transfiguration when they shouldn't have. There was one about a man, in the 1600's called Thaddeus Thurkell, who had seven sons, all of whom were squibs. He was so angry; he transfigured them all into hedgehogs. Harry fondly remembered the time, when he had first found out he was a wizard, and Hagrid had tried to transfigure Dudley into a pig. He hadn't succeeded, but he had given him a pig's tail, which was good enough for Harry.

He thought back to_ 'Quidditch through The Ages'_ where he remembered reading about the world cup in 1473, where all 700 fouls were committed, including, one of the players transfiguring a chaser on the opposite team into a polecat. He was pulled from his daydream by McGonagall.

"Mr. Powers?"

An almost questioning expression flickered across her face, but it was quickly replaced by a glare.

"Is there a particular reason why you are not taking notes?"

Harry jumped, slightly, startled, and looked up at the blackboard. There was a new diagram, along with more notes. Everyone around him was busy writing.

"Sorry Professor. I was just...thinking."

"Well, I would appreciate it, if you would stop dreaming, and focus more on the lesson, as this branch of transfiguration is extremely important. Now pick up your quill, and start writing."

Harry did so.

"Thank you," she said curtly.

The bell finally rang half an hour later, and Harry packed up, stuffing his books, parchment and quills deep into the bottom of his bag. He was about to make his way to charms, when Lily spoke.

"Mind if I walk with you?"

Harry grinned. "No. Not at all."

* * *

Harry sat with Lily in charms and History of Magic, which was still equally boring as it always was. Binns entered through the blackboard, and immediately got onto the subject of _'The Goblin Rebellion of 1632, led by Urg, the_ _unclean'_, while everyone else drooled all over their desks, and the girl beside Harry intricately braided her neighbour's hair. Even Lily didn't bother to listen. She just took down the name of the rebellion, and said she could look it up later, and settled to talking to Harry instead. Only a select few were even trying to pay attention, and take notes, but did so sleepily.

What really amazed him, was his mother. Lily. She was so...innocent. One of her favourite subjects to rant about was James, and how immature he was. She was right he supposed, but then again, Harry wasn't all that mature either. Maybe he was a little mature, in his own way. Trouble just had a knack, of tracking him down.

But Lily's face, it was like an open book. She had all her feelings on display. Unlike Harry, he had learned to hold his in. What with Voldemort constantly after him, getting into spats with Slytherins, and nearly killing himself every other day, he could hardly let everyone know how he was feeling. They'd think he'd gone mad. Not that they didn't think that the past year anyway. But still. It was better not to let his feelings leak. He hardly ever let the mask slip.

But Lily...she had never fought, knowing that her life was on the line. She'd never looked death in the face, knowing that she could die any second. At least...not yet. Harry's past contained horrors that others could not possibly imagine. He was the boy who had lived. But so did Lily's future. But right now, she seemed utterly oblivious to the horrors that lay ahead. She was happy. And if she was happy right now, that was fine by Harry.

He found himself smiling at her.

After History of Magic, as he was walking back to the common room, he heard someone calling him. Or...maybe not him...exactly.

"Potter!"

Harry whipped around.

A young Severus Snape was standing in front of him, his greasy hair hanging around his face like a curtain, flanked by Avery.

* * *

**A/N: Did you like it? And I have no problem with anyone sending me a PM, if you have a question. (Or you can ask in the a review) And another thing; The disclaimer in the first chapter stands for the whole fanfiction, because I'm really too lazy and also forgetful to put them up every chapter.**

**Remember: Reviews bring happiness and sunshine :) **


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Sorry I haven't updated in a while, Life's been catching up on me lately. (Homework etc) So here's the next chapter. Hope you enjoy it :) And as always, thank you so much to my Beta, Cookies and Cream1234567! Thank you to all my followers and favourites. *Gives out a fresh batch of virtual brownies.* I think I'll do cupcakes next chapter. **

* * *

Chapter 6

Harry swallowed. Snape looked just as greasy as ever.

"Alone, are we?" Snape sneered. "Ah, revenge is _sweet."_

Harry glared at him coldly. It was bad enough that he was in this mess, but now he had to endure Snape too? Fate really had a twisted sense of humor.

"Leave me alone alright? Go bother one of your friends."

Harry turned to go, when he felt a cold hand grip his shoulder tightly.

"Face me like a man Potter. Go on, I dare you."

Harry shook off Snape's hand disgustedly. "Oh yeah, two against one is _real_ manly. Anyway, I'm not James. Go sort out your problems with him."

Harry was about to walk away, when he heard Snape hiss, "Liar!"

Harry turned quickly, just as Snape muttered, _"Stupefy!"_

Harry unsheathed his wand from his robes as fast as he could, and shouted, _"Protego!"_

A huge see through blue shield separated Harry from Snape and Avery, and Snape's stunner bounced back at him, and he was forced to duck.

"Funny really, as I didn't have you down as a coward," Harry spat. "Trying to curse me when my back was turned."

Whether it was coincidently, the Marauders strolled from around the corner, at that very moment, chatting animatedly. They stopped dead when they saw Harry, separated from Snape and Avery of all people, through a fairly big blue shield. Sirius was the first to approach, a smirk on his face.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here? Powers' outsmarted you, has he Snivellus? Not that hard I suppose."

He turned to face Avery.

"Avery," Sirius sneered. "How nice to see you. Decided to accompany Snivellus on his little...excursion have we?"

Sirius laughed. Snape looked extremely confused. He turned to Sirius, a scowl now in place. "What do you mean, Black? Who is...Powers? That's Potter!"

Oh. Harry had forgotten that Snape wasn't at breakfast that morning. Just then, James stepped out from the shadows.

"Looking for me?" He sneered at Snape. "Better look more carefully in future Snivellus. Don't want to go around picking a fight with the wrong person, now, do we?"

Snape stared at Harry and James for a moment, gob-smacked, and looking very angry, but shook his head and turned back to face James.

"Potter," he hissed.

James laughed at him, shaking his head. This seemed to infuriate Snape even more and he ran at the shield, but was thrown back, and slammed into the wall, which made James laugh even more. After he had stopped laughing, he turned to face Snape.

"Oh, nice _try_, Snivelly! Have another go!"

The tears were nearly rolling down his cheeks now. Remus was sighing, but the expression on his face clearly spelt out that this happened every other day. Peter came to stand beside Sirius, glaring at Avery through the shield. James then came to stand beside Harry, rubbing his hands together, while still shaking from silent laughter.

"Go on then. Have a go. It's what you came for, wasn't it?"

He took his wand from his robes pocket, twirling it around in his fingers. Harry really didn't like what direction this was steering towards.

"Take down the shield Harry," said James absentmindedly.

Harry's face hardened. He took a deep breath. "No."

James spun to face Harry incredulously. "What?"

Harry stared him down, green eyes connecting with hazel. It was almost like looking in a mirror. "No," he repeated.

Harry didn't like Snape, _far_ from it but he also really didn't want James and him fighting, as he was sure Sirius and maybe even Remus would join in. He wasn't sure of Peter, but he hardly thought that mattered. He didn't want to make a scene. And he also knew how it felt to get bullied. Dudley had bullied him for most of his own life. And okay, he would admit it, the hate was mutual between Snape and the Marauders, but he hadn't yet forgotten what he had seen in the pensieve. This was wrong. He thought it was very similar to his own relationship with Malfoy, but he wouldn't levitate Malfoy by the ankle and humiliate him in front of most of Hogwarts, just because he was _bored.  
_And even if he would have liked to, doesn't mean he would necessarily _do_ it. Although Malfoy would probably delight in doing so to him, if he got the opportunity, or if he was smart enough to think of the idea. But that was beside the point. The point was, he didn't want something similar happening again.

James scowled. "Look mate-"

Harry cut him off. "No, _you_ look. Drop your wand."

James instinctively tightened his grip on it. Harry glared at him.

"Drop it."

Once again, James's grip tightened. Harry was getting annoyingly impatient now. He looked at James.

"Drop-your-wand," he said slowly.

James' eyes flashed, and he let out a frustrated growl, before throwing his wand to the floor. Harry nodded, before turning to Sirius.

"Now you."

Sirius looked amazingly astonished. "What?"

Harry sighed heavily. "Look, just drop it, okay?"

Sirius looked indignant. "No."

Harry gritted his teeth together. "For Merlin's sake, just DROP it!"

Before Sirius had a chance to retort, Remus had snatched the wand from his grip. Sirius wheeled around.

"Moony!" he screeched.

Remus sighed. "Padfoot, just shut up for a second." He then dropped his own wand.

Harry smiled at him, before turning to give Peter a cold glare. Peter squeaked, before dropping his wand to the floor with a clatter. He then spun to face Snape and Avery through the shield, who were watching with cold amusement. Their grins quickly evaporated.

"Don't think I'm letting _you_ off. Drop your wands."

Snape and Avery leered at him. "And why would we do that?"

Harry's temper started to get the better of him. "Do it _now,_ before I come over there, and rip your fat heads off your sorry shoulders!"

Avery growled, and dropped his wand to the floor. However, Snape kept a firm grip on his. Harry balled up his fists. He was getting tired of this game. With one swift movement, he let down the shield, and just as Snape was about to mutter a curse no doubt, Harry shouted, _"Expelliarmus!"_

Snape's wand flew into his hand. He gripped it tightly. He turned to address Snape and Avery. He would have dearly loved to curse them, but hey, you can't have everything in life.

"Walk away now, before I change my mind and let rip. Seriously."

Snape and Avery scowled, before making their way back towards the Slytherin common room, at the dungeons. When they were a fairly safe distance away, Harry threw Snape's wand as far as he could towards the corridor, and Snape caught it. He then stuck his wand in his robes pocket, and stalked towards the Gryffindor common room, while the Marauders picked up theirs, and followed. Harry was have an alright 'first day' until now. His mood was ruined. As he made his way up the stairs, James ran ahead and cut in front of him, flinging his arm out like a barrier.

"WHAT was that about?"

Harry glared at him. "What was that about? _What_ was that about? That was about me saving your sorry arse, that's what that was about, so be grateful!"

James' knuckles tightened. "I don't _need_ your help! I could have stomped him, easy!"

Harry shook his head, frustrated. "That's not the point!"

"Then what is?"

"The point is that you don't need to start something over nothing! There wasn't any point in dueling with him!"

James ran a hand through his hair, annoyed. "Why not? He started it! It's what he wanted!"

Harry sighed, exasperated. "Yeah, but you made it worse! And he started on _me_, not you!

"Because he thought you were me! So technically, he started on me!"

Harry stared at James, long and hard. He just didn't get it. He started back up the stairs.

"You know what, it doesn't even matter. I'll see you in Herbology."

And he walked all the way back to the common room, leaving the Marauders standing there, motionless on the stairs.

* * *

"Can you believe him?" roared James.

They were on their way to the kitchens, towards the Hufflepuff common room, at the basement, as there was still a half hour to go until their next lesson, and Sirius was getting hungry.

Remus sighed. "Well, you have to admit it Prongs, he handled it well."

James shook his head disgustedly. "Handled it well? _Handled_ it well? He was interfering!"

Remus bit his lip. "Well, technically _we_ were-"

He stopped when he saw James giving him his best death glare. The one glare where James tried to make a person's head explode without the use of a wand. Remus thought this quite dangerous, as he _was_ a wizard, and it could possibly happen, no matter how slim the chances.

"Alright! Look at it this way! If you had dueled Snape, someone would have heard, and reported us to a teacher, and we would have all gotten detention. _Again."_

Sirius butted in. "So? I'm trying to break the record of 'Most detentions in the history of Hogwarts throughout seven years'."

Remus quirked an eyebrow. "What's the current record?"

"Three hundred and seventy six detentions."

"And what's your record?"

"Five hundred and ninety three. Five more than James mind you. We usually do our detentions together."

Remus gaped. "But...you've already broken the record!"

Sirius rolled his eyes dramatically, as if Remus was clearly missing out on something. "That's_ irrelevant!_ And anyways I have to make sure that no one in the future beats me, don't I? And I still have almost two years to go. Lots more detentions can be gained in two years Moony."

James grinned. "And what's a detention, except an excuse to be out of the common room after hours?"

Him and Sirius slapped hands. "Exactly."

James began to look sour again. "Back on topic. I don't need his help. I mean, who does he think he is?"

They reached the picture of the bowl of fruit. Peter tickled the pear, and as they were climbing through, Remus replied, "Look. Do me a favour, and don't hold it against him. He seems like an alright guy to me, and he was just trying to help. And no matter what you two think, I really don't want another detention with McGonagall, and I don't think Wormtail does either. So really, I owe him, because he certainly saved my arse."

Sirius grumbled. "Whatever. But he'd better not pull another stunt like that again, or I'll be on to him. Now come on! Hurry up, or I'll starve!" He whined.

* * *

Harry was on his way to the greenhouse for double Herbology. He listened to his footsteps for a moment, echoing against the stone floor, before he saw the Marauders emerge from around the corner, Sirius's mouth stuffed to the brim with what looked like chocolate cake, judging from the smears of brown stuff around his mouth. Harry sped up quickly. He didn't feel like dealing with them right now. They weren't the same people they were when they were older. At least Sirius and Remus weren't. He wished he could have known with James. And Peter...he didn't exactly know what to make of him. He was very quiet, and seemed like the sort of person that took in everything around him, mentally filing it away for later. And Harry didn't like it. They probably despised him already, and it was only his 'first day'. But as 'luck' would have it, they quickly caught up with him.

James looked a bit stony faced, but Remus said brightly, "So Harry! How's your first proper day going? Never a got a chance to ask you earlier."

Harry looked at them suspiciously, searching for some sign of a joke. Why were they being nice to him? He had expected them to either be nasty, or ignore him. Still, he wasn't going to complain. "Yeah. It's going...alright I guess."

Remus nodded. He looked sheepish for a moment. "Uh, so...what's your favourite subject?" He asked just to break the silence, but Harry brightened a bit.

"Defence against the Dark Arts. You?"

He peered at Remus. Remus looked thoughtful for a moment. "Hmmm. I'm not quite sure. I have a few actually. Defence is one of them. It's a really interesting subject. But I also like charms, as it's very-"

Sirius cut him off. "Shut it for a minute, will you Moony? I swear, once he gets on to the topic of his 'Favourite subjects', he never shuts his trap."

Remus gave Sirius his best glare, taking inspiration from James' glare of death. "I never stop talking? Says the one! What about _you?_ I've been trying to get you to shut up since first year, but so far have been unsuccessful!"

Sirius waved Remus off with a flap of his hand. "Shush Moony."

He looked Harry up and down. "Now, on to more important matters. Do you play Quidditch?"

Harry grinned. "Oh, yeah!"

Sirius grinned back. He seemed to have forgotten their little mishap earlier, at least for the moment.

"What position?"

"Seeker."

"Awesome! I play beater on the Gryffindor team, and James plays chaser."

He scrutinized Harry closely. "Just the right build for a seeker as well. But I suppose, James is too. He started off as seeker, for all of second year, but in third year grabbed the chaser slot, soon as Marcus Davies left. He's good at both, but I think he plays slightly better as chaser."

His eyes darted between Harry and James, who looked extremely annoyed at being talked about as though he wasn't there.

"This is really weird."

Harry looked at Sirius, confused for a moment. "Why?"

"Because...because...well...you two are identical! You could be brothers! Twin brothers!"

_'Or Father and son,'_ thought Harry wryly. He glanced at James. James glanced at him. They quickly looked away. Sirius continued on.

"Same height, same features, _even_ the same hair!"

James looked offended all of a sudden. "Why? Is there something wrong with my hair?"

Sirius snorted. "Well no. Just that...it's a complete disaster zone!"

"Hey!" said Harry and James simultaneously.

Sirius laughed. "Well come on, you have to admit it! It never stays flat! Well, James' doesn't."

Harry shrugged. "Neither does mine."

Sirius threw his hands in the air, improvising. "See? I smell twins! Are you sure you aren't related in some way? You could be distantly related. This is just too much of a coincidence!"

"Not that I know of," Harry lied. "Maybe. Through my Dad."

Seeing the Marauders confused expressions, he explained. "I'm half blood. My Dad was a pure blood, and Mum was Muggleborn."

Sirius nodded, stroking his chin. "Might be," he mused.

Peter spoke up. "So...did you play Quidditch, at your old school?"

Harry glanced at him, scuffing his shoe along the gravel. "Yeah. I was on the team. Seeker. Like I said."

He suddenly thought of something, and smirked. "So..." He said, looking over at Peter, not caring if he embarrassed him in the slightest. "You play? Quidditch I mean."

Peter went pink. "Um..no...I-"

Sirius spluttered. "Wormy can hardly _walk_ in a straight line, let alone _fly_ in one!"  
He howled with laughter.

James spoke up. "Aw, leave him alone Pads. Flying just isn't his...er...physique. His talents lie outside the realm of Quidditch. But he can do plenty of other things, can't you Wormtail?"

He slapped Peter on the back, a bit too forcefully, and he stumbled.

"Whoops. Sorry."

"It's alright," Peter mumbled.

James then turned to face Harry. "So. Harry. What school did you go to?"

Harry panicked for a moment, as they were walking along towards the greenhouse. What could he say? He really should have gone over his back story with Dumbledore, but to be honest he wasn't really thinking about any of that at the time. Luck was on Harry's side for a change, and just then they arrived right at the greenhouse's doors. As they walked in, Lily rushed over to Harry.

"Harry! Want to be partners?"

Harry breathed out, relieved for an excuse to avoid the Marauders and their questions for the moment.

"Sure."

He looked back at the Marauders. "I guess I'll talk to you guys later."

As he turned to walk towards where Lily had already ran over, leaving James looking more than slightly forlorn, he vaguely heard Sirius shouting at him.

"You snore at all?"

* * *

Harry made his way out from greenhouse four, and set off for dinner. He heard loud footsteps behind him, and turned to see the Marauders had him surrounded.

"Harry," greeted James and Sirius simultaneously. "We're walking with you."

Harry rolled his eyes. They walked along in silence for a while, until Peter made an effort to speak up.

"So...do you miss your old school then?"

Harry glared at him, but then thought for a moment. Did he? Of course he did. He couldn't miss the actual castle properly, as here he was, walking along its very corridors. Everything had changed in his Fifth year though. It became a sort of prison for most students, with Umbridge as Headmistress. It was sort of nice to be back, with the castle as it was supposed to be, as it usually was. Well almost. There always seemed to be something happening back in his time, with or without Umbridge. Even here there was a war. At least no one was aiming to kill him particularly. But Sirius was here. Alive. And so were James and Lily, along with everyone else who had died. He unfortunately couldn't say the same for Peter, as he didn't particularly want him walking around the castle, free. But what he missed most, were his friends: Ron, Hermione—especially them—Ginny, Neville, Luna, and all the rest of them. It had only been a few days, but he was missing them sorely. He would give anything to hear Hermione's voice, lecturing him to do his homework or nagging Ron to do his. He thought about the conversations they had had at the start of the year, about whether or not Harry should chance his arm and curse Malfoy during the next Slytherin vs. Gryffindor match, while they were up in the air. He would never do that of course, as he would get disqualified, and as there were strictly no back up players allowed, his team-mates would strangle him.

He swallowed. What was everyone doing now, that he was missing? Now the Ministry finally knew that Voldemort was back, there would be an uproar. Voldemort knew that he had been discovered, so he wouldn't hold back now. He wondered what the wizarding community would do now they knew he had been telling the truth all this time. The Prophet would have a field day. It would be everywhere, even if_ they_ were the ones that had spread around that he was off his marbles for the past few months, he would be expected to overlook that. It wasn't that easy. They had made his life hell that year. What with Umbridge and everything else, he definitely wasn't going to forgive the Ministry so easily. He felt a certain amount of anger at the public as well. They had listened to the Ministry. They had believed the lies. Would the Ministry just expect him to smile, and be their puppet? Well too bad if they did. They were in for a surprise. But now that Harry Potter was missing, what would happen? Everyone would panic. It would be splashed across the front of the newspaper. There was no point in sending out a search party, as they definitely wouldn't find him. He _needed_ to find a way back. He could do some extra research in the library. Anything, anything at all that could help him. Dumbledore was already on the case, but a little extra research couldn't hurt, could it?

He cast his thoughts aside, concentrating on Peter's question, squeezing the strap of his bag as he did so.

"Yeah, I do. But what I miss most are my friends."

Remus nodded understandingly. But before he could say anything, a first year by the looks of it, had sidled over to them, followed by a few of his friends. His mouth was agape.

"Are you twins?" he said, addressing Harry and James.

James looked extremely annoyed. "No!" he snapped. "And it's _rude_ to stare!"

The first years didn't move. James gritted his teeth together. "Go on, totter along, and bring your friends with yo-"

He stopped mid sentence. James had caught sight of Lily, walking just ahead of them. "OI! Evans!"

Lily quickly started to walk even faster. James sighed frustratingly. All of a sudden, his face lit up, as if he had just had an amazing idea. He looked around, and plucked one of the First years out the group, holding him afloat by his collar.

"EVANS!" he bellowed. "Go out with me, or I'll hex this First year!"

Harry's mouth dropped. He wouldn't. Would he? They were only First years after all.

Lily whipped around. She skimmed over the crowd of First years standing helplessly at the side, and then at James, holding one of them up by his collar, wand in his other hand. She looked outraged.

"Potter! Let him go! Now!"

The scared looking First year nodded ferociously, while looking pleadingly at his friends. They were all fingering their wands, but Harry supposed they wouldn't be much use against James. They were apparently thinking the same thing, as they weren't trying to help in the slightest. They could clearly see they had hit a sticky spot.

James shook his head at Lily. "Only if you go out with me!"

Harry looked at the First year, trying to catch his eye. When he did, hoping he would understand, he motioned to his hand, and then at his mouth, while Lily looked at them interestingly for a second. The First year, catching on, opened his mouth wide, and bit James' hand as hard as he could. James yelped, and let go of his hold on him.

"Oh you little bugger, you drew blood!"

Before James had a chance to get his revenge, the First years had scattered, running as fast as their legs could carry them, off to the tell the rest of their friends of the dangerous encounter they had endured, leaving Sirius, Remus and Peter sniggering, and Lily howling with laughter.

"Nice try Potter! Don't pull something like that again, or I'll hex you from here to Jupiter."

And she turned on her heel, leaving James looking dumbstruck. "Oh well," he said half-heartedly. "Next time maybe. It was a brilliant idea though!"

Sirius snorted, and so did Peter, but Remus looked stern. "Really Prongs? Hexing a First year?"

James tried to look innocent. "I only_ threatened_ to hex him. And it's not like I was going to do any serious damage. Just a little stinging hex maybe! And anyway," said James matter a factly, "He shouldn't have been _gawking_, should he? Or asking stupid questions. Wasn't he at breakfast this morning?"

Remus simply looked at him, a smile threatening to pull at his lips. "Well, it was an easy mistake to make, wasn't it?"

James looked disgruntled. "Yeah, well...I guess. But what about the Prewett twins? No one gawks at them!"

Remus shrugged. "I dunno."

And with a sigh, they started towards the Great hall.

* * *

**A/N: Did you like it? Feel free to offer advice or PM me about it. In the next chapter, there's going to be a fair bit about Sirius's family history. (The truth comes out O.o)**

******And I also just want to thank anyone who has reviewed.  
Starkid192, Livelovelincolnyounesxxx, Mudbloodgirl55555, Pumpkinowl38563, Moon fire 96, Hannah, Dicegirl12, Ludost, Method in Madness, Cookies and Cream1234567 and the 2 guests! (Thank you so much) **  


******Remember: Reviews are like chocolate. They bring happiness and addiction. xx**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Sorry, it's been a few weeks since I've updated. Its school! The teachers think the students have nothing better to do than study their subject all day everyday. Thank you to everyone who reviewed. *Gives out carefully made virtual cupcakes*  
(I'll do names at the end) And thanks to my beta, Cookies and Cream1234567, for taking the time to beta this story. Here is the next chapter :)**

* * *

Chapter 7

Quite a few older students were whispering and pointing at them now.

They knew Harry and James definitely weren't twins, as they had known James from last year. Who _didn't_ know James Potter?

Harry sighed. At least he was used to it. It had gone on during all of Fifth year, for quite a different reason, and had made his life hell. But that didn't make it feel any better now. After a few minutes of this, James had decided he didn't mind at all. In fact, he was quite enjoying the attention.

As they reached the Great Hall, they made their way to the Gryffindor table. Harry almost groaned. There was more whispering from first year's this time and they were whispering rather loudly as well. In Harry's book, whispering didn't qualify as cupping your hand around your mouth as you talked quite normally. He gave them a glare that clearly told them to stop.

Harry sat beside Remus, James on his other side. As he was piling his food with an assortment of foods, he caught sight of Lily, or rather, her hair. It was very a very bright color, and looked very soft. It was the same shade as Ron's sisters, Ginny. She was chatting with two girls. As Harry turned his back on her, they got up, and made their way towards him.

Lily cleared her throat, and tapped James on the shoulder.

"Harry?"

James turned around so fast; Harry wondered how he hadn't attained whiplash. A big grin on his face, he wagged his eyebrows.

"Yes Evans?"

Lily looked disgusted. "Not you," she spat. "I was looking for Harry."

"But you tapped my should-"

"Oh shut up!"

She turned to Harry. "Harry, want to come down here?"

She pointed to the other end of the Gryffindor table. "I want to introduce you to my friends."

Harry was about to reply, when heard what sounded like tutting sounds.

He twisted around to face James, who was shaking his head.

"Ah, ah Evans. You want to sit with Harry, you sit with _us."_

He slid over and patted the seat beside him suggestively.

Lily scowled, but nevertheless, flung herself onto the space, pushed James further down the seat, and made one of her friends sit between them. James looked disappointed, but smiled all the same.

Lily once again turned to Harry.

"Harry, these are my friends, Marlene and Gracie."

A girl with long chestnut brown hair, and warm brown eyes smiled, and stuck out her hand. Harry shook it.

"Marlene. Marlene McKinnon. But you can call me Marley. Everyone else does."

Harry grinned back, but his mind was whirring. He remembered seeing her in an old photo of the Order, looking almost exactly the same as now. She had died two weeks after it was taken, and her whole family was wiped out. After he had let go of her hand, another girl with blue eyes and slightly curly dirty blond hair, leant over Lily, and put out her hand for Harry to shake.

"Gracie," she said grinning. "Well, Grace, but just call me Gracie. Gracie Eustace."

Harry smiled. "Nice to meet you both."

They seemed nice, even if they were looking at him a little questioningly. He supposed if he were them, he would be too.

He loaded his plate up with pie, chips, bacon, mash, chicken wings and two helpings of treacle tart.

Lily huffed. "That is _so_ not fair. If I ate like that, I'd blow out like a balloon! And you're really tall, and skinny as a twig! I'm short, and definitely not skinny!"

Harry grinned. "Y'know, I used to be really small, up until last summer. I grew about a foot in two months. I'm still not as tall as my friend Ron though."

Lily still looked annoyed, but amused at the same time. "Then he must be one tall bloke."

Harry nodded. "And my friend Hermione, she's about your height, and she still can't get used to the fact that I'm a head and a half taller than her now, and can't believe it that she has to crane her neck to look at my face. We used to be the same height. And as for you being skinny, you are. Just right. No one wants to be scrawny, do they?"

Lily smiled. "I guess not."

James looked as if he was about to comment, but quickly shut his mouth at the glare Lily gave him.

Gracie chipped in. "Your friends? What were they like? You must miss them."

Harry picked at his chicken pie sadly. "Yeah. Yeah I do. I had loads of good friends, but there were two who were my best friends: Ron and Hermione. They're great, they really are."

Harry felt like he had to talk about them. If his parents were alive, they definitely would have known them well, so it seemed only right he guessed.

"Hermione, she's really smart. She basically lives in the library, and is always lecturing me and my other friend, Ron, to turn our homework in on time. It can get annoying, but just as well, because if she didn't, we probably wouldn't bother to do half of it, and get in even more trouble than we usually are."

Marlene cocked her head. "Go looking for trouble much?" she asked, a wry smile on her face.

Harry seemed to take this question seriously, and frowned. "Not really. Trouble usually finds me."

The Marauders glanced at each other, but Harry appeared not to notice.

"Anyway, she's really brave, and always stands up for what she believes in."

Harry snorted. "She hates the idea of house elf enslavement, so she set up this society, called S.P.E.W."

James wrinkled his nose. "SPEW?" What kind of name is that?"

Harry shrugged. "That's what I thought. Anyway, it stands for The Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare.  
I... think."

"Oh," said James, still looking slightly disbelieved.

Harry went on. It was weird to talk about Hermione like this. But now she wasn't here, it made him realize it all. Yeah, sometimes she annoyed to him to no end, and her lectures seemed to last forever. But they were best friends, and he never really fully appreciated that before. He and Ron were really dependent on her. She was there to help with homework, even if it was somewhat unwillingly as she thought they should do it themselves, and had got him out of an awful lot of fixes. She was always there for him, through everything he had been through.

"She went around knitting hats, and hid them under bits of dirt, so the house elves who worked in our school would find them while they were cleaning, and be set free. But all it did was offend them, and piss them off mostly."

Remus nodded, frowning all the while. He had previously thought that Hogwarts was the only school in Europe that employed House elves. He was obviously wrong.

Sirius laughed. "Oh yeah! They love their work. I absolutely _love_ house elves though. What's not to love? They clean, and cook, and just keep handing me chocolate cake, until I can't eat anymore."

James snorted loudly. "So basically, they keep on going until we have to drag him away. Because really, when is Sirius ever full?"

Sirius shoved him. "Well, house elves are great!" He wrinkled his nose disgustedly. "Except Kreacher. I swear it's his life goal to get me in even more trouble with Mum. It's not as if she doesn't hate me already."

Sirius shook his head, but froze for a moment, as if he had forgotten something. A strange expression came over his face, and he started to shovel bacon into his mouth, and had grabbed his knife and was currently grinding it into the table.

James looked concerned for a moment, and put his arm around Sirius's shoulders. He whispered words into his ear.

"Listen Pads, everything's going to be okay. You live with me now. They can't get to you. You don't have to listen to them anymore."

Sirius nodded stiffly. "Yeah. Yeah, I know. Listen mate, thanks. I just-you don't know how much this actually means to me."

James shook his head, grinning. "No need. You're like my brother. No, you _are_ my brother. Along with you guys."

He reached over and gripped hands with Remus and Peter. "Always."

Sirius gripped James in a gruff one armed hug.

Harry felt as if his heart was cracking. He could see this wasn't the Marauders usual display of affection. He looked at Peter. He didn't deserve any of it. Not even a little bit. They were the greatest, most loyal friends anyone could ask for. And he betrayed them. Just like that. Harry swallowed, and gripped the edge of his chair, hard.

The girls were looking shocked. Marlene was whispering to Gracie.

"What's wrong with Black?"

Gracie whispered back. "I-I don't know."

Sirius turned around suddenly, as if he had heard them. An embarrassed expression passed over his face, which slowly turned to fury. No one was supposed to see him like this. No one. He slammed his fist down on the table, pushed his chair back with a loud screech, which caught the attention of quite a few, and strode towards the doors leading out of the Great Hall. At that very moment, a skinny boy, with a thin face, and hair just a shade lighter than Sirius's, rose from the Slytherin table, his head buried in a defence book. He didn't appear to notice he was now walking side by side with Sirius. Sirius did. He clenched his fists, and gave the boy a hard shove, which sent him sprawling to the floor, the book flying from his hand, and landing back on the floor with a loud thud. He looked up just in time to see Sirius, slamming the doors behind him.

The boy let out a frustrated roar, and pulled at his shaggy black locks, entwining his fingers in them. He stood up, and kicked the book he was reading over the other side of the room. He looked around to see that everyone was staring at him, and ran all the way to the doors, slamming them even louder than Sirius, if that was possible.

Lily swallowed. She turned to face Remus.

"What in the name of Merlin's _beard_ is going on? What was wrong with Black? Who was that boy? Black really shouldn't have pushed him, he-"

James put his hand up, looking perplexed. "Slow down Evans. Jeez."

Lily glared daggers at him. "Shut up Potter. I wasn't asking for _your_ opinion."

She turned back to Remus. "Well?"

Remus sighed. "Look, its-complicated, all right Lily?"

She glanced Remus, and back towards the doors. She raised an eyebrow.

"Try me."

Remus immediately looked and James and Peter for permission. They glanced at each other, before shrugging, and nodding. Most people knew already.

Remus ran a hand through his hair, looking rather like James for a moment.

"Okay…um…where to start…lets see…" He looked up suddenly, as if there was a spring on his neck, startling Lily.

"Do you remember what happened, when Sirius was sorted? How everyone reacted?"

Lily looked puzzled for a second. "I-I'm not sure…"

Remus leaned over toward her small frame. "Think back Lily. Go on, think."

She furrowed her brow for a moment, until slowly, it dawned on her.

"Oh."

She swallowed, and thought back.

_Lily was in awe. The castle was…magnificent. Was she really going to school here? Wow. She was feeling very scared, walking along with the other First years. They had said that there was going to be some sort of test. This test would determine where they were to be sorted. But Lily didn't know any magic yet. She bet the others knew loads already. They approached the Great Hall. There were four long wooden tables, two at either side. She walked down the very middle with her classmates. She felt like everyone was staring at her. All the older students looked so scary. Were they going to be watching her, performing the test? She knew she'd embarrass herself. She bit her lip anxiously. As they all walked towards the top of the hall, she could just make out a three legged stool. And on top of the stool, a…hat? What on earth was that doing there? It looked extremely old and dirty, and was patched in places. All of a sudden, the brim of the hat lifted, as if it were about to say something. But that wasn't possible. Was it? Lily jumped violently as the hat burst into song. What would this strange, but magical, new world throw at her next?_

_She heard laughter behind her. She turned to see those two annoying boys that were teasing Sev on the train, breaking their hearts laughing. At her. She quickly turned back around, her heart racing with fury. They were stupid anyway. Why should she care? She hoped they wouldn't be sorted into the same house as she was. Suddenly, the hat stopped singing, and McGonagall spoke._

"_I will call you up, one by one, and you will be sorted into your houses."_

_She unrolled a large scroll, and cleared her throat. "Abbot Hayleigh."_

_A small girl, with blond pigtails, stepped up. She was visibly shaking. She sat on the stool, and McGonagall placed the hat on top of her head. It was a moment before the hat shouted, "HUFFLEPUFF!" and the table on the right burst into applause. Hayleigh made her way over there, skipping happily._

_McGonagall cleared her throat again._

"_Black Sirius."_

_Lily looked behind her. One of those annoying boys was making his way up to the hat. He was biting his lip, and seemed nervous, not at all the way Lily had expected him to act. At the sound of his name, the Slytherin table burst into applause. It took at least three full minutes for McGonagall to quiet them. Lily was very confused. He hadn't even been sorted yet! She looked back over to Sirius, who was now sitting on the stool, looking extremely more nervous than before. He kept glancing over at the Slytherin table. Still, he looked determined. McGonagall lifted the hat, and placed it atop his raven hair. Lily could see his mouth moving furiously, as if he was whispering with the hat. She vaguely wondered what it could be saying to him. As the hat opened its mouth, or rather, brim, the Slytherin table started to clap again, louder than ever. The hat had to scream over the din to be heard._

"_GRYFFINDOR!"_

_The clapping slowly died out, and the Slytherins were staring hard at Sirius, as if he were the wrong boy. They looked as if they hoped he was._

_There was a threatening silence hanging over the Great Hall. Suddenly, Lily saw two identical boys, whom she now knew as the Prewett Twins, Gideon and Fabian, stand up, and start to clap, much like the Slytherins had before the hat had made its…announcement. They were laughing. Lily was very much surprised that they hadn't had a hernia from laughter._

"_YES!" Fabian yelled. Slowly the whole of Gryffindor table joined in with them. They were all laughing now, their eyes on the Slytherin table._

_Gideon shouted across the room, over at the Slytherins, clearly jeering them._

"_What do you think of that then, you slimy gits? We've got a Black! We've got Sirius Black!"_

_And he erupted into laughter once more. Fabian's eyes flickered to Sirius, still paralyzed on the stool, looking as if couldn't decide whether or not to burst into tears, or laugh out loud. Fabian motioned with his hand for him to join them._

"_Well come on then! Get over here!"_

_Sirius grinned, his eyes shining, jumped off the stool, and made his way over to the Gryffindor table. Everyone was clapping him on the back, looking over at the Slytherin table with glee. He slapped hands with Fabian and Gideon. He looked towards James, who gave him a grin, and thumbs up. Lily had remembered thinking what idiots they were._

Lily looked at Remus, swallowing.

"Oh."

She hadn't really understood why everyone had reacted the way they had. No one had reacted to anyone else in the same way. They only reacted that way to Sirius. She remembered that he had gotten a very strange letter the very next morning, coloured Scarlet. He had panicked and ran from the Great Hall as fast as he could go.  
A Howler.

Lily glanced at Remus nervously. "Yes, yes, I remember."

Remus nodded solemnly. "You see Lily, the thing you have to understand is, that Sirius, is a Black."

Lily looked at him confusedly. "Yes I know, but…what does that have to do with anything?"

James joined the conversation, and for once, Lily didn't seem to mind.

"Powerful pureblood family. The whole lot of them have been in Slytherin for generations." He shook his head. "Pureblood maniacs."

Remus spoke again. "You see, Sirius was expected to be in Slytherin. Only honourable, in his mother's eyes. He disgraced the whole family by being sorted into Gryffindor, and mixing with people who…who aren't of pureblood. She thinks he's a blood traitor. So, Sirius, as a Black, was _supposed_ to be in Slytherin. Destiny some might say."

James scoffed. "Load of tosh in my opinion. But Sirius is related to nearly everyone, if not all, of Slytherin house."

Remus gave James a pointed look. "So are you, Prongs."

James made a face. "Shut up."

Lily was getting really impatient now. "What are you two babbling on about?"

Remus turned back to face Lily and her friends.

He decided to explain this next piece for Lily's benefit. "All purebloods are related in some way. Take James for example. Sirius' Mum, Walburga, is his cousin."

Lily gaped, looking slightly shocked. "What? How?"

James shrugged. "That's just the way it is Evans. My Mum is her aunt. Sirius and I are second cousins. We never really talked about it before. Sort of odd really. His Mum hates me anyway."

Lily held up her hand, sighing a bit. "Hold up for a minute. What has this got to do with Black being…upset?"

James' eyes swiveled to look at her.

"Everything."

He went on. "In our second year, Sirius's brother, Regulus, came to Hogwarts. He was sorted into Slytherin, like a good little snake."

"Potter!"

"What?" said James fiercely. "Then what did Sirius have to listen to when he got home? How much of a better son Regulus was. He doesn't get on with his family at all. Especially his Mum, always droning on about how muggleborns should be wiped out and how You-Know-Who has the right idea. And course, Sirius would retaliate. It drove his parents mad. She-she believes in physical punishment. Walburga I mean. And Sirius, being the oddball in the family, had a really hard time of it."

Lily stopped him, a look of disgust on her face. "Physical punishment? Can't his parents get into trouble for that?"

James shook his head sadly. "Trouble? Nah. The Blacks are one of the oldest pureblood families there are. It's hard to get them out for something. And even if Sirius did go to someone, who would believe him? No one, that's who. He wouldn't anyway. He's too proud. Thinks it would give _her_ too much satisfaction."

Lily looked as if she didn't know what to say to that.

James continued, kicking the legs of his chair as he did so. "He could easily take his parents on in a fight now of course. But they had the wands. If he so much as touched his, he'd be accused of underage magic."

James grinned for a moment. "Not that he has any problems with…twisting the law a bit. But he didn't want to get expelled did he? For one thing, his Mum would kill him, bring him back to clean up the pieces, and then he'd have to stay in that hellhole for the rest of the year."

He shook his head. "He'd go through hell, every summer. And Kreacher only made it worse for him."

He looked at Lily, Gracie and Marlene. "The Black family house elf. The one Padfoot mentioned. Whenever he'd do something that was 'wrong' Kreacher would totter off to find his Mum, and he'd be in even _more_ trouble."

Remus joined in. "He was tested. When he was six."

Harry spoke for the first time, honestly curious. "Tested? Tested for what?"

Remus looked grave. "For the ability. The ability to speak Parseltongue."

Harry held his breath, and stared hard at the floor. He was beginning to feel extremely squeamish now, and he felt his face going hot.

Lily gasped, looking horrified, making Harry feel more desolate than ever. "Why ever would they want to test him for _that?"_

Remus shrugged. "All the Blacks are tested for it. Thinks it would be a great honour."

James snorted. Harry was now staring intently at a small crack in the floor; dearly wishing it would evolve into a hole and swallow him up.

Lily looked over at Marlene and Gracie. They nodded, clearly wanting to know more.

"Well, what happened?"

Remus sighed heavily. "They brought him out to the back garden. His Dad conjured a snake and-"

Gracie tactlessly interrupted. "Conjured a snake? You can't do that!"

James looked at her, nodding. "You can. The Serpensortia spell? Don't try it."

Remus looked annoyed. "Well anyway," he huffed. "I'll go on, shall I?"

Lily, Marlene and Gracie all nodded fervently.

Remus still looked disconcerted, but went on. "So anyway, his parents brought him out to the backyard, and his Dad conjured a snake. A pretty big one as well. Sirius was scared out of his wits of course. He was only six after all. So, as the snake slithered towards him, his parents were encouraging him to try and say something to it. He wouldn't. It just kept coming towards him, and his parents didn't do anything about it. Sirius screamed, and this obviously provoked the snake a fair bit, so it attacked, and mangled his arm. His parents apparently thought that the snake was trying to 'communicate' with him, and only got rid of it when they truly realized it had no intention of communicating with him at all. He had to be brought to St. Mungo's, so they could patch up his arm. They had to tell the healers that he'd been attacked by the family dog."

Remus scoffed. "They don't even have a dog."

He glanced at James and Peter, and they all shared a smile, which did not go unnoticed by Harry, probably because he knew what they were thinking about. Of course Lily and her friends had no idea.

"He still has the scar. It goes all the way up his left arm."

Lily was trembling with apparent rage. "How _dare_ they! It's- It's horrible, and wrong!"

James took over. "Yeah. Yeah it is. Need a hug? Because I'm available. And _just_ because it's you, this one's for free."

He leant over Gracie, and towards Lily. Lily gritted her teeth, and slapped his hands away.

"You're unbelievable!" Harry had a feeling that she was only tolerating him like this because she wanted to hear more.

James sighed loudly, putting his hands up. "Feisty, feisty. Worth a try though."

His eyes flickered as he went on. "So of course, Padfoot couldn't take it anymore. He ran away, about a month ago."

Lily's eyes widened. "But where did he go?"

James smiled. "My place. Turned up, three O'clock in the morning, suitcase in hand, wand in his back pocket, asking if he could stay for just one night, until he could find somewhere else. Course, Mum wasn't having that. She said he could stay permanently, because-because he's like her second son. So, now he lives with me. We're proper brothers now," said James firmly. "Then Dad told him that he'd better whip that wand from his pocket, else his arse would be blown off."

Lily laughed. "Well, he's right you know. Elementary wand safety. Seems no one bothers with it anymore."

James looked overjoyed, his face glowing. He, he James Potter, had made Lily Evans laugh! The idea was almost laughable in itself.

Harry grinned. He remembered, in the summer, when Moody had told him the same thing. He still kept it in his pocket.

"Me and Wormtail came over to Prongs' place for the last few weeks of summer after that," said Remus. "Sirius got three letters that day: One from his uncle Alphard, saying that he'd heard what Sirius had done, and had transferred quite a lot of money into his Gringotts' account. Sirius was overjoyed when he got that one. The second though," said Remus, a sorrowful expression on his face, "Was a howler, from his Mum of course. It said that he was a disgrace to the family, that he had brought even more shame on all of them, that he was no longer her son, and that she just wanted to let him know that she had blasted his name right off the family tree. Just like poor Andromeda."

Lily thought back to Transfiguration. "Andromeda? The Mother of the Metamorphagus child Black mentioned?"

Remus nodded. "Yeah. She married a muggleborn, Tonks I think his name was, so of course, she was blasted off as well."

Lily frowned. She was muggleborn. She thought back to what Remus had said.

"Blasted off the family tree? I don't understand. What family tree?"

"The Black family tree," James chipped in. "It's this huge tapestry in the drawing room. It's been there for centuries, and records all the Black's there ever was. Every time another of the family is born, or married into the family, the tapestry adds them on, along with a name, and a picture. The picture changes as does the person. Walburga blasted Sirius right off, because she thinks that he's not worthy to be on it anymore."

James sighed. "Just like poor Marius Black. He was blasted off because he was a squib. Not by Walburga though. By my Grandmother, Violetta. Violetta Bulstrode, before she was married. She's Sirius' Great Grandmother as well. Marius was my Mum's brother, my uncle."

James looked a bit sad saying this, and started to drum his fingers against the table, his food finished.

"He's alright now of course. Getting on a bit though."

James took on a disgusted look. "The old bag's still alive. Grandma I mean. She's ninety-seven, and _still_ going. I hope she dies soon."

Marlene looked shocked that James would say such a thing. "James!"

James twisted to look at her, his hazel eyes flashing. "What?" he said sharply. "I _hate_ her Marley, I really do. She hates me for no reason! She hates Sirius as well! The last letter he got that night was another howler! From her! She said she was ashamed, really ashamed of him, and that she had the worst luck in the world, having me for a grandson, and him a great grandson! Said I was just as bad, and so were Mum and Dad, for taking him in. And I hate her for it! She's a horrid old hag and always will be!"

Meanwhile, Harry was caught between feeling sorry for James and Sirius, mostly Sirius, but was also feeling sick to the stomach, and a bit sorry for himself. He was related to the Bulstrodes? Millicent Bulstrode? He didn't think he could stomach it at all. He was related to an ugly bitch like her. If only Ron and Hermione were here. Ron would have doubled up with laughter and Hermione would most likely be caught between amusement and disgust. He would really have to take a look at his family tree sometime. He also thought it weird that Violetta Bulstrode was his Great grandmother _and_ Sirius' as well. Pureblood families were really complicated.

Marlene looked guilty. "Sorry James."

"S'alright," he grumbled.

Gracie spoke, in an effort to break the silence. "So…are you on the Black family tree as well James?"

James looked up. "Yeah. Yeah, I am. I remember seeing it, last time I was at Grimmauld Place. I'm a Black through my Mum. She was Dorea Black, before she married my Dad, Charlus Potter."

Harry felt a bit sad at this. He was sure James would have been blasted off too, for marrying Lily. He wondered if he was on it. He probably was. He was sure the tapestry wouldn't stop working just because Sirius' Mum decided to give someone the blast. He wondered if she had burned him off too. Wait. What was he saying? Off course she had. Stupid question really. For one thing, he was half-blood, and for another, he had been the downfall of Voldemort. Well, sort of. Sirius' Mum hadn't been alive long enough to know that now he was back. And if those two things didn't get him the blast, he didn't know what did. He hadn't seen himself on it at Christmas, so that confirmed it. He hadn't been looking to be honest. He'd never thought about any of it. The fact that he was related to most of the purebloods in Hogwarts was sickening, since about three quarters of them were in Slytherin.

Then it hit him. Malfoy. Draco Malfoy. He was _related_ to that git. If his calculations were correct, they were fourth cousins. He knew it wasn't much, but any sort of relation, any at all, connecting him and Malfoy was enough to make him gag. Cousins. He nearly vomited into his dinner, shuddering.

Peter looked concerned. "Alright there Harry?"

Harry was about to snap at him, before he stopped himself. Peter didn't actually commit any of his future crimes yet. He merely wanted to know if Harry was okay. Harry would have snapped at him any other time, but simply wasn't in the mood right now.

"Mmm. I'm alright."

He went back to his thinking. Would Lily have appeared on the tapestry too? He was sure they would have, as Sirius had told him that the tapestry showed the family, and who they married. She would have been burnt off the moment her and James had wed, Harry was sure of it. The thought made his stomach drop with anger.

He was pulled from his thoughts by Marlene.

"So were you three in the house of Black then?"

Remus shook his head. "Only James. Because he's a pureblood and family. Me and Pete aren't allowed in, because I'm a half-blood," Remus paused for a moment, his lip trembling slightly. Harry was sure Sirius's parents didn't know about him being a werewolf. They couldn't. Could they? From what Harry had heard, he was sure Sirius' Mum would blow the roof apart if she thought a Black was mixing with a werewolf, runaway or not. Remus continued.

"And Wormtail isn't allowed in because his father is a half-blood."

Lily looked outraged. "That's terrible! No wonder Black ran away! He may be annoying, but it's a small comfort to know that he isn't a bit like his parents!"

James looked slightly annoyed. The whole thing must have been getting him down. "Well, Padfoot lives with me now. He's never going back there, no matter what anyone says," he said fiercely.

Lily frowned, deep in thought, before looking back up.

"But you still haven't answered one of my questions. Who was that boy?"

Remus looked at her, a small crease forming between his eyebrows. "That was Regulus, Sirius's brother."

Lily looked a bit taken aback. She swallowed. "I guess he took it hard, when Black ran away?"

Remus nodded. "Oh yeah. They may not have gotten on too well, but he took it hard alright. He must have sent Sirius a hundred letters during the summer, begging him to come home. Padfoot threw them all in the fire."

Remus sighed heavily. "They're always fighting. Always in one another's faces. They're too different. Regulus does whatever his Mum says, Sirius does the opposite. He's another pureblood maniac, completely brainwashed by his parents. And Sirius hates him for it. It was easier, when they younger. Regulus looked up to Sirius. He was his big brother. Wherever Sirius was, you can bet your buttons Regulus was trailing along behind him."

Remus shook his head. He lifted it up to look at Lily, Marlene and Gracie.

"Don't you remember the Quidditch matches? They _kill_ each other. Sirius is beater for Gryffindor, and Regulus is seeker, for Slytherin. It's mostly Sirius doing the injuring though, as he's the one with the bat. At the first match last year, Regulus was in the hospital wing for two weeks because of a Bludger injury to the head. And you can bet Christopher Wilkinson didn't do the aiming. The last match of the year, between Slytherin and Gryffindor, Regulus was in the hospital wing for a broken arm and another head injury."

Gracie looked shocked. "Can't Sirius get in trouble for that?"

James laughed. "No! He's playing by the book, which makes it all the cleverer! First rule of _'The Beaters Bible'_ is _'Take out the Seeker'_ as they have such a large outcome in the match! One hundred and fifty points for the snitch? And people actually wonder why the Seekers are always the ones with the most injuries! Regulus never comes out of a Gryffindor vs. Slytherin match unscathed. Not on Sirius's watch."

Lily looked horrified. She was obviously starting to realize just what sort of a relationship Sirius and Regulus had. And it definitely wasn't your usually brotherly relationship.

Remus looked sad. "No matter what the differences, they're still brothers. I guess Regulus is a living reminder of what Sirius is constantly trying so hard to forget. What he feels like he can never get away from.  
And he despises him for it."

Lily looked away. "And I-I always thought he must have been pampered and-and spoilt."

Remus laughed. "Far from it. He hates his family. The whole lot of them. He is the way he is, Lily, because he _needs_ some laughter in his life. He's never had any. He's too busy trying to make everyone else laugh. So the next time he pulls a prank, or cracks a joke, do me a favour. Give him a break. Please."

Remus looked at her pleadingly. Lily stared at him for a moment, before nodding. "And I've always thought it must be great to be a pureblood. I used to wish I were. It's more-complicated than I'd first thought."

James's mouth fell open, and he twisted around a bit more to face her. "Don't you ever wish you were someone else Evans. You're lucky. So am I, come to think of it. I may be a pureblood, but at least I've got great parents. Mum's side of the family might be rotten, but life is a bitch, isn't it? I guess Sirius just got the sawdust at the end of the barrel, and got landed with the parents he has. And being related to half of Hogwarts is a pain in the arse sometimes as well."

He looked thoughtful for a moment, before continuing.

"For example, when I was first born, Padfoot's aunt and Uncle, Cygnus Black; my cousin, and his wife, Druella Rosier, asked Mum and Dad permission to betroth me to their five year old daughter-Narcissa Black."

He shuddered. "I wouldn't marry her if my life depended on it. How could I _marry_ my second cousin? I swear when Mum first told me, I nearly _died. _My first thought was that cousin Cygnus must have finally went cracked, and got his hands on some muggle drugs. Then I realized that he wasn't and that he just wanted to keep the pureblood line going."

James snorted. "Luckily Mum and Dad blew that one out of the cauldron. Still, could have been worse. Could have been Bellabitch, and then I really would have died, even if it was never going to happen, my heart would have actually stopped at the bloody _thought_ of it."

Lily looked a bit shocked at the idea of betrothals and such, but as she got over it, raised an eyebrow. "Bellabitch?" she said sarcastically. "Who's Bellabitch?"

Peter chipped in. "Sirius's cousin. James's second cousin. Bellatrix Black. She's sort of...strange."

James spluttered. "Strange? That's putting it lightly! You're too damn kind Wormtail! She's downright _unnatural,_ she is! You don't want to get in a scrap with her, she'll rip you to pieces. She takes after Walburga. She's pretty fond of physical punishment, only..." James shook his head. "Mum and Dad think she's joined up. Joined the Death Eaters."

Harry was finding it extremely hard not to smash something. He barely suppressed the shaking. Bellatrix Lestrange. The one who drove Frank and Alice Longbottom to insanity. Killer of Sirius. His third cousin.

No one seemed to notice the little meltdown Harry seemed to be having.

"So there you have it Evans," said James. "Nice long chat we had there. So now you know that Sirius's life wasn't all sunshine and daisies. He was the first Black to be sorted into Gryffindor since the beginning of Hogwarts. To cut a long story short, he hates most of his immediate family and they hate him." He cocked his head. "Still wish you were pureblood? I'd like to think not."

Lily looked a bit shocked after all this, and more than anything, slightly confused. "I had no idea. It's all so...complex. Maybe-maybe I should have a chat with Black sometime."

Remus gave her a sympathetic look. "It's a kind thought Lily, but it'll only make things worse. Sirius isn't the best at...opening up to people. It will most likely make him angrier."

Lily frowned. "Oh. Alright." Harry couldn't help but notice that she also looked slightly relieved.

James looked sulky for a moment. "Moony's right Evans. Last year, Padfoot was in one of his moods, and went out to the pitch to calm down. So naturally, because I'm such a great friend and all-" Lily rolled her eyes. "I went out to check on him. He was whacking the hell out of those Bludgers, you wouldn't want to see it. I couldn't get his attention from the ground, so I flew up to see if he was alright."

James made a face. "He whacked a Bludger at my head, and I was sent to the hospital wing, because I ended up with a concussion."

Marlene snorted. James glared at her.

"A few days later, he sent in this humongous box of Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans to the hospital wing because he felt bad. As he should have!"

James's nostrils flared, as if he was getting agitated just thinking about the whole affair. He shook his head.

"Not one chocolate flavoured bean in the whole box. All of them were flavours like pepper and vomit. I swear I got a bogey flavored one at least twice! I'm sure he did it on purpose, but he _still_ won't own up!"

James stabbed a fork into his chicken. "I swear, he acts like such a _girl_ sometimes. But what I'm really trying to say Evans is: _Don't piss him off. _I've got to give it to him though, he's got bloody brilliant aim."

Lily snorted, and rose to her feet along with Marlene and Gracie. "Thanks Remus."

Her lip curled, and she nodded stiffly at James. She then turned to Harry. "Thanks Harry. We can talk later, if you want. I don't think you were quite finished."

She grinned. Gracie and Marlene bumped Harry's shoulder. "Nice meeting you Harry," said Gracie.

Marlene beamed. "Yeah, nice to meet you."

Harry smiled at them sadly. "Nice to meet you too." He tried to cast it from his mind that these girls would be dead in a few years.

"I suppose I'll talk to you guys later," said Lily.

James brightened. "Really Evans? That a promise?"

Lily scowled at him, rolling her eyes, but couldn't quite hide the smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. "I take that back. No."

With that they left the Great Hall.

James sighed. "Well, that was enlightening, wasn't it?" he said sarcastically.

Peter shoved him. "Oh shut up. Poor Padfoot. He's got a horrible family, hasn't he?"

Remus nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, he has."

James glared at them both. "Don't insult me! The Potters are his family now!"

He suddenly took on a serious tone. "He isn't ever going back to them. Ever. Over my dead body he's going back to that crack house."

Remus smiled, and clapped him on the back. "You're right Prongs. He's got you now. He's got us."

Harry was grinning, when he remembered. He remembered the one item that could ruin everything.

The Marauders' Map.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry if it dragged on a bit. I know Harry's first day is going slowly, but time will start to go by faster, don't worry! And all the information about Sirius and James's family is true. I looked it all up, because I wanted it to seem real. I have this theory that only James' Dad was in Gryffindor, not his Mum. I think she was in Slytherin, because in the Deathly Hallows, (Snape's memories) James said he wanted to be in Gryffindor, like his Dad. He didn't mention anything about his Mum. After all she was a Black. But it's just a theory, so you never know. I'm sure she was a perfectly nice woman. And if you're wondering about Harry's height, remember he had a growth spurt the summer before his Fifth year?**

**So, what was your favourite part?**

** And also, thank you to bubzchoc, J.F.C, Cookies and Cream1234567, Clairebear1982, castiel and the guest for reviewing last chapter! (I was so happy, I put my well earned pocket money in the Trocaire box; where it will hopefully be put to good use to help those poor children)**

**Remember: Reviews are the days when there is actually good music on MTV. xxx**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Hello my good peoples! Thanks so much for the reviews! (I'll do names at the end) I really appreciate it :) And thank you to my amazing beta, Cookies and Cream1234567, who takes the time to beta this story, and all the people who followed and favourited. So, on with the chapter!**

* * *

Chapter 8

Harry was panicking. He felt as if he was having a mini heart attack. He pushed his chair back with a loud scrape, jumping to his feet. James looked up at him.

"Alright there Harry? Going somewhere?"

Harry nodded quickly. "Uh, yeah. Yeah the...um... toilet. Yeah. I need to go to the toilet. I'll see you later."

And with that he ran from the Great Hall, the huge wooden doors slamming for the third time that day. Remus frowned.

"Huh. Wonder what that was all about."

Peter shrugged. "I dunno. Maybe he just really needed to go."

James shook his head, while reaching over to grab a chicken wing from Remus' plate. "I don't think so."

Remus gave him a strange look, ignoring for that moment the fact that by the time this conversation was over, he would be scarily short of chicken wings. "What? Why?"

James sighed. "I'm not sure exactly. There's just...something about him. He's hiding something big. I can tell."

"You can tell? How? He's only been here a few days."

James began to drum 'his' half eaten chicken bone on the table, while Peter looked on in disgust.

"Look at the facts Moony!"

Remus raised an eyebrow. "Well, since he's hardly been here five minutes, I don't think there are that many."

James huffed. "Well what about the ones we've managed to gather?"

"Managed to gather?"

"Yes! Whenever we ask him about his personal life, he sort of closes up."

Remus rolled his eyes. "Prongs, we hardly know him! He's not going to spill out his whole life story!"

"He said that the reason he didn't arrive by train, was because he was busy! Busy? Rubbish! Absolute and utter rubbish! Did you see the _state_ he was in when he arrived on Monday? It was sickening! You'd think that he'd just participated in a full scale war!"

Remus bit his lip. There was no point in arguing with that one, and he knew it. "I don't know Prongs. But I think you're looking into this a bit too deeply."

James sighed exasperatedly. "Fine. But I still think there's something about him. No actually I don't. I _know_ there's something about him! Of course there is!"

He dropped his voice to whisper. "Either of you two have the map, just to check on where he's going?"

Peter shook his head, while Remus rolled his eyes, again.

"No, Padfoot has it. And anyway Prongs, he_ told_ us he's going to the bathroom. What's so suspicious about that?"

James scowled. "Whatever. But you know what? He still hasn't told us what school he used to go to."

* * *

Harry ran up several moving staircases just to get to Gryffindor tower, without stopping to catch his breath. He came to a halt outside the Fat Lady.

"Whizpoppers," he said breathlessly.

The Fat Lady raised her eyebrows. "In a hurry, are we dear?"

Harry scowled. "Whizpoppers!" he repeated.

"Alright, alright," the Fat Lady huffed. "Keep your hair on!"

She swung forward, and Harry rushed into the common room, and towards the boy's staircase. When he got to his, he flung open the door, and stopped dead. There were feathers _everywhere._ His eyes slowly travelled to the bed in the left hand corner, where he could just make out Sirius' dejected form. He looked up quickly.

"Prongs?"

Harry shook his head. "No. It's me, Harry."

"Oh. Go away."

Harry sighed, and walked toward Sirius, all thoughts of the Marauders' map driven from his mind. At least, for the moment.

"Are-are you okay?"

Sirius scowled. "No. Now leave me alone."

Harry didn't move. Sirius growled.

"Please."

Harry made his way over to Remus's bed, opposite Sirius's. He looked around the room. There were feathers absolutely everywhere. He wasn't the best at household spells either. But even so, he was sure he would need more than a simple scourgify charm to clean...this up. Maybe if he added Maxima to the end? He supposed it was worth a try. he pointed his wand hesitantly at the floor, and muttered,

_"Scourgify Maxima."_

The feathers all rose from the ground, and with a small bang, disappeared. There were still a few stray feathers here and there, but that hardly mattered. He grinned over at Sirius.

"Better to let it all out. Don't bottle it all up."

Sirius said nothing.

Harry sighed. "Are you going to tell me what's wrong, or not?"

Even though he already knew. Sirius was still silent. Harry decided to take a risk.

"Family problems?"

Sirius looked at him fiercely. "How'd _you_ know?"

Harry shrugged, trying to think of what to say. "I've heard of the Blacks. One of the oldest pureblood families there is. A long line of Slytherins as well, from what I've heard. And I'm guessing that you're the odd one out."

Sirius nodded. "Yeah. I'm-I'm not _like_ them. All they care about is keeping the pure blood line going. I don't really give a toss."

Harry couldn't believe Sirius had opened up so quickly, especially since he was supposed to be a new student. But Sirius continued. It seemed like now he had started, he couldn't stop.

"All Mum goes on about, is how people who aren't of pureblood, are dirt and scum, and should be wiped out. But seriously. It's _us_ who are dying out. Forced to marry our own cousins, just so we can keep the family pure? How disturbing is that? And my brother-he listens to her. He really does. He believes her. I'm always in trouble, just because I don't agree with any of that rubbish. I hate my family. I hate the lot of them. My Mum, Dad, Brother, and my stupid cousins."

Sirius sighed. "I ran away, bout a month ago. To Prong's house. I was welcomed like a son. I was always welcome at the Potters."

He smiled to himself. "They're my family now. The Potters I mean. But-I was always afraid. Afraid that one day-I'd become just like them. Like Regulus, like Mum."

He swallowed. " I couldn't take it any more. And now-on top of everything else, with Regulus dancing to their tune, I think-I think he's going to join up. Join the Death Eaters."

Sirius looked on the verge of tears, but Harry could see that he was trying to hold it together. He made his way over to his bed, and sat down beside him.

"You could never become like them. You're different."

Sirius still didn't look very convinced. So with a heavy heart, Harry repeated something that Sirius had once told him.

"Look, the world isn't split into good people and Death Eaters. We all got both light and dark inside us. But what matters, is the part we choose to act on. That's who we really are."

Sirius stared at him, and wiped at his eyes. "Thanks. I appreciate it."

Harry nodded. Sirius hesitantly held out his knuckle. Harry tapped it against his own, smiling.

Just at that moment, Peter, Remus and James entered.

* * *

"Padfoot, are you oka-"

James stopped, his eyes darting between Harry and Sirius. "Oh. Hi Harry."

"Uh, hi."

"Thought you went to the bathroom?"

"Um...I finished."

James nodded suspiciously. "Alright then."

He glanced around their usual messy dorm. "Is-is that a _feather_?" he asked, picking it up between his thumb and forefinger.

Sirius scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Uh, yeah. I went a bit mad with the pillows. Harry cleaned most of it up though."

Harry grinned, seeing the funny side. "Oh, yeah. You want to see it, it was like a feather explosion! I cleaned it up though, but I'm not the _best_ at household spells."

Remus narrowed his eyes, and made his way over to his bed suspiciously. "OI! My pillows! They're empty! Every single one! I'm going to _strangle_ you Padfoot! You know that I can't sleep without at least five extra pillows!"

Sirius shrugged. "Sorry Moony."

Remus' eyes bulged. "Sorry? You're _sorry? _Oh you'll be more than sorry when I'm through with you! I can't believe this!"

He marched over to Sirius' bed, scanning it over. "I see you're pillows are fine!"

He made his way over to James' bed, then Peter's and finally Harry's, his face taking on a more deranged expression as he examined each one. He turned to face Sirius, his face ablaze with fury.

"You didn't kill anyone else's pillows! It's only mine!"

Sirius once again, shrugged, looking as though he really couldn't care less.

"So? You're bed had the most pillows. So I slashed them open, and let rip."

Remus' eyes flashed.

'Wow,' thought harry. 'He must really love his pillows.

"Alright then. Two can play at _this_ game."

Remus then proceeded to make his way over to Sirius' bed, and before Sirius could say a word, pointed his wand dramatically at the pillows and muttered,

_"Diffindo."_

With a loud ripping noise, they were slashed open, and Remus grabbed them, and emptied out all the feathers onto the floor.

"Ha!" he said triumphantly. He ran over to James' bed, scooped up his two pillows, and did the same to Harry's and Peter's. He flung his empty pillowcases aside, and dumped the stolen pillows on top of his bed. He now had six pillows. He muttered what Harry guessed to be a protective charm, and turned to grin at them all smugly. James looked offended, and extremely annoyed.

"Oi! Moony! We had nothing to do with this! What about our pillows?"

Remus looked at him as if he were quite stupid. "Do I look like I care?"

James scowled. "But Moony..." he whined.

Remus gritted his teeth. He had reached the end of the rope. Sirius had abused his pillows, and he was severely hacked off already. With a swish of his wand, and a murmur under his breath, James was silenced. His mouth was moving, but no sound was coming out. Rather like a fish. He looked at Harry and Peter sweetly.

"Care to say something?"

They quickly shook their heads, Harry trying not to laugh.

Remus nodded. "Good."

He turned to Sirius, who was in what seemed to be deep shock, staring at his mangled pillows.

"M-Moony," he stuttered. "You didn't."

Remus nodded. "I did."

"My-my pillows..." He trailed away.

Remus smirked. "Yes, not a nice feeling, is it? And now all four of you will have no pillows tonight. And it's all _your_ fault. Maybe, you'll know next time, to take your anger out on someone else's pillows. Peter's perhaps. He doesn't mind as much as I do. He can sleep anywhere, without fail, with or without pillows. Isn't that right Wormtail?"

Peter nodded solemnly. "Yep. It doesn't make a difference to me. I usually just fall straight asleep. Mum sent me to a healer for it once. Thinks it's a special condition or something, because one morning she couldn't wake me up, and thought I was dead. I woke up three hours later, and she sent me straight to the local healer."

Remus sighed. "Well, I see they didn't succeed in curing you."

Peter shook his head sadly. "No."

Harry turned to see that James had his wand pointed at his own throat, and was trying to perform the counter spell non-verbally. He was so far, failing, as he was becoming so frustrated. As soon as he caught Remus' eye, he motioned furiously to himself. Remus looked thoughtful for a moment.

"Hmmmmm. Should I?"

James nodded frantically. Remus shook his head with a grin.

"No, I don't think I will. I've never realised how nice the quiet can be. If I undo the charm, all that will be gone."

Remus was right. Harry didn't really have much to say any more, Peter was silent, and Sirius was still moping over his pillows.

Remus turned around. "Oh, and I forgot...just to make sure..."

He pointed his wand at the pile of feathers that had come from Sirius'' pillows, and they vanished. Harry wondered what spell Remus had used for that. He made a mental note to ask him, as he wasn't close enough to hear him.

Sirius scowled. "Of course! I could have just repaired it...why you little git!"

He glared at Remus for a moment, and then went back to moping silently into his empty pillowcases.

Remus sighed. "Ah. This is nice. I should do it more often."

Harry smiled, but then felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned to see James, who grinned, and gestured to himself, and then at Harry's wand in turn. Harry laughed, and was just about to mutter the counter curse, when he ehard Remus shout

"NO! Don't do it Harry!"

James looked at him pleadingly.

Remus yelled again. "I'll give you a galleon if you don't do it!"

He looked quite desperate. Harry was about to say that he didn't give into bribery, when James fished around in his pocket, and brought out a shining ten galleons. He held it out to Harry. Harry bit his lip. He needed all the money he could get, as he didn't have any on him. He'd feel guilty afterwards though. But should he feel guilty? After all, James was family, even if he didn't know it yet. As he was debating what to do, James stamped his foot impatiently and pressed the money into Harry's free hand. He then gestured to himself, giving Harry a wide grin. Harry sighed and muttered the counter curse. James touched his throat lightly, as if he was afraid to speak. He let rip.

"YES! Beaten at your own game Moony, beaten at your own game!" James bragged.

Remus grumbled. "Well, _I_ have the pillows..."

Harry interrupted. "Look, I could have done without the money. Just-just take it."

He held it out to James. James flapped him away with his hand.

"Nah. Think of it as an added bonus. I'm just happy to be able to speak again!"

Harry frowned. He had always known his Dad was rich, as he had inherited most of his own fortune from him. But he had just handed him ten galleons for hardly any reason at all, as if it was nothing. Now Harry knew how Ron had felt when he hadn't noticed that the ten galleons Ron had given him in return for his omnioculars, had mysteriously disappeared, as it turned out to be leprauchan's gold. But that was different. There was so much going on at the time, he hardly knew what was going on in front of him, much less thought to check his pocket for money. It had been at the legendary Quidditch World Cup, Bulgaria vs. Ireland. Death Eaters had appeared and had terrorised muggles for fun. The Dark Mark had appeared that night, for the first time in thirteen years, with Harry, Ron and Hermione caught in the middle, like always. He wasn't thinking abut anything other than his wand, his friends, and precious little else at the time. But James...he had just handed it to him, as if he handed out money everyday.  
Harry didn't want anyone else's charity. He didn't _need_ anyone else's charity. He tapped James on the shoulder, mid-rant to Remus. He turned around.

"Um, yeah?"

Harry held out the heavy golden coins. "I don't want this."

James shook his head. "No, seriously, keep it. I don't really care either way."

Harry shook his head. "No. I don't want it," he repeated.

He shoved the money into James' hand. He frowned.

"Alright then. You could have just said so."

Harry gave him half a smile, thinking. All chances of searching for the map had now evaporated. It would unfortunately have to wait a bit longer. He prayed that The Marauders wouldn't check it until later, or possibly tomorrow. He still wasn't sure how he was going to 'fix' it. He'd figure _something_ out. He hoped. Maybe he'd go to the library now, and do some research on how to get home, or look up a list of different schools maybe, so he's have that question ready the next time it was fired at him. The library wasn't really his favourite place though. If only Hermione were here. Then he could beg her to do it all for him. He sighed heavily. If he wanted to get home, he'd have to try. But he was already dreading going to the library. He addressed James.

"Thanks. Listen, I have to go. I'll see you later then."

He gave him a grin, and turned towards the door.

"Wait, where are you goi-"

But Harry had already gone. James growled.

"There he goes again!"

Remus raised an eyebrow. "Meaning?"

James started to pace around the dorm, kicking clothes and socks out of his way.

"He's _always_ disappearing!"

Remus shook his head exasperatedly. "He's been here a few days Prongs! This is his_ first_ day of lessons! He's not so unusual! Just because he disappeared to go to the bathroom a few minutes ago, doesn't mean he's hiding anything! You're getting paranoid!"

James clenched his fist. "But...I just have this-this feeling okay? There's something about him! Of course there is! Think about it Moony! For one thing, he obviously has more than a few enemies, judging the little _scene_ that unfolded on Monday! And don't say he 'tripped' or 'fell down the stairs' or something stupid like that, because it's rubbish! You could see half of his _insides! _It seems to me that someone out there obviously doesn't like him very much!"

Remus sighed. "I wasn't going to say that. But why should we be suspicious of him? He's_ just_ a new student. I know we don't get those often, but it can happen. And casting aside the state he was in when he arrived, he seems pretty normal to me. And even if he does look like your double, that can hardly be helped."

James sat down on the end of his bed, catapulting himself backwards, as if expecting pillows, but instead pulling a muscle in his neck as he whacked it off the edge of the headboard. He shot Remus a nasty look, who was smirking, and sat up again, rubbing the back of his neck.

"I dunno. I _told_ you, I just have this feeling."

Remus gave him a disbelieving look, but didn't comment. Peter got up, and made his way over to Sirius.

"Padfoot? Are you alright?"

Sirius looked up from his empty pillowcases. "No. Thanks to him!"

He pointed at Remus dramatically, who grinned.

"It's your own sorry fault!"

Sirius scowled. "I'll never forgive you."

Remus snorted. "It's what you did to my pillows! I was just returning the favour."

Sirius gritted his teeth, looking ready to pounce. "But you took everyone else's pillows, so it didn't matter!"

Remus shrugged. "So? It's still your fault that no one is going to have any pillows tonight."

"But Moony! You _can't_ do this!"

Remus nodded his head. "I can and I will!"

"But-but my head will be sore in the morning!" Sirius whined.

Remus shrugged again. "Once again, do I look like I care?"

Sirius huffed. "I'll get you back. Wait and see."

He sighed, finally getting over the fact that his pillows were never coming back, and stood up, plonking himself on the edge of his bed, firmly gripping both poles at either side.

"What were we talking about? I wasn't really listening."

Peter answered him. "Harry Powers."

"Oh, him?" said Sirius, swinging back and forth. "I like him. He seems alright."

James frowned. "Why the sudden likeness?"

"Why not? Don't you like him?"

"Well...yeah. I guess he seems like a decent enough guy."

Sirius shrugged. "Well then, what's not to like? He can make a person feel better. Though I suppose he is a _little_ suspicious."

James sat up straighter, listening now. "How so?"

Sirius shrugged carelessly. "Like this morning, when I asked him about his scar, he said he got it when he was little. I asked how, and he got all closed up, and said 'just around'. Just around? I mean, he could have said something better. You've got to admit, it was a pretty lame answer."

James furrowed his brow. "What scar?"

"The one on his forehead. Didn't you notice? It's like-like lightening."

James shook his head, frowning. "No. No, I didn't. I-wasn't really looking. It's-it's sort of freaky when I do look at him, to be honest. Keep thinking I'm looking at myself, until I remember."

Remus joined in, looking thoughtful. "Like lightning?"

Sirius nodded.

"That can't be an ordinary scar."

Sirius cocked his head. "What d'you mean Moony? He probably just tripped over a rock, and fell on his head when he was five, and finds it too embarrassing to talk about."

Remus shook his head silently. "No. That can't be it. I'll research it, if I find time. The shape...it's too peculiar."

James spoke up again. "Huh. Strange. Anyway, how about we keep tabs on him for awhile, see if we notice anything else? Because when he comes back, I have a few questions."

Remus scuffed his trainer along the brown wood of the floor. "I'm not sure that's such a good idea. Sounds as if we're asking for trouble."

Remus paused, and then laughed, dragging his shoe along the floor with more force. "Actually, I take that last one back. When are we not asking for trouble?" he said sarcastically.

James grinned. "Exactly."

He frowned. "Which reminds me. Did you hear him talking to McKinnon this morning? He said...that he doesn't go looking for trouble. That trouble usually finds him. What was that all about d'you think?"

Remus cocked his head, his trainer squeaking louder still. "Well, I'd imagine that there's truth in those words yet."

Peter made a face. "Speak _English_ Moony!" He whined. "I don't know what you're on about!"

Remus rolled his eyes, exasperated. "It's obvious what he was trying to say, isn't it? I'm talking about his arrival, and his 'little visit' to the hospital wing." He made quotation marks with his fingers.

Sirius stopped swinging, and stood, shrugging. "Well, I dunno. We'll keep a close eye on him, see if there's anything unusual about him." He grinned. "Well, I don't know about you three, but I'm off on a much needed trip to the kitchens. I didn't get to finish dinner, or even get a scrap of dessert! Imagine! Would you kind gentle men care to join me?"

James grinned back. "Ah, but of course Mr Padfoot. How rude of me not to ask." He looked back at Remus and Peter. "And do we have the privilege to be graced with your fine presence this evening?"

Peter nodded excitedly, and got up to join them, and Remus rolled his eyes, but grinned all the same.

"Why not? I need to stock up on steak pie anyway. Good for the muscles." He puffed out his chest, and held up his arms.

James snorted, but Sirius was beginning to get impatient. "Lets get going then! The day is coming to a close."

They all bolted down the stairs to the common room, and out through the Fat Lady to the kitchens, Sirius wolf whistling at some fifth years on his way down, thoroughly cheered up, while they giggled and blushed at his teasing.

* * *

Harry made his way over to the library doors, taking a deep breath, and yanking them open, in a sort of rushed fashion. The whiff of dust and old parchment immediately hit his nostrils. The last time he had been in here of his own _free_ will, was when he was looking up spells for the triwizard tournament. He swallowed. 'Don't think about it,' he said to himself sternly. Oh, who was he kidding? How could he forget? It had been a year, but still, everything was fresh in his mind as if it had been yesterday. He slowly bit on his gums. He looked back up from the floor, and walked in. It looked the same as always. Madam Pince was still behind her desk, looking grumpy like always, but considerably younger. There were a few students, mostly consisting of Ravenclaws scattered around the polished, round, wooden tables, studying or doing homework. It was silent, except for the occasional rustle of pages. He could almost_ see_ Hermione, sitting in the corner, barricaded by books, a small crease between her eyebrows. He shifted his bag from one shoulder to the other, and with a sigh, noisily made his way over to the 'T' section. Madame Pince gave him a glare that clearly said 'Be quiet or get out'.

'Like Hermione says', thought Harry wryly 'when in doubt, go to the library'.

What a load of rubbish.

When he got to the right section, he made his way over to the nearest table, and dumped his bag on top of it. He then ran his hands quickly along the the spines of the books in the 'T' section, looking for anything to dow with time travel.

"Time travel," he muttered to himself. "Hmmm. Turtles, tortoise, transfiguration." Weren't turtles and tortoise the same thing? Almost? How could anyone wrote a whole book on them while they were practically the same thing? At least, that's what it seemed like to Harry. He was getting off topic. He must have went past it. He ran his fingers backwards over the spines.

"Aha," he murmured. He pulled out a heavy looking red volume, with the title _'Time travel'_. How original. He sat down with a sigh, and started to flip through it. He read the first paragraph.

_'The only known method to travel through time is the method of using a time turner. It is only possible to go back a few hours, and even so, you must take great care. Many Witches and Wizards who have meddled with time only thinking of themselves have often killed themselves off by accident, or worse.  
Time turners are extremely rare.'_

Harry stared at the page, and reread the paragraph twice over, to make sure he hadn't missed anything. He hadn't. He knew all this already. But it wasn't a time turner that had sent him here. It was a portkey. He was sure he had heard someone scream something before he left...He shook his head for a moment. He flicked through more pages and skim read for a while. After about forty minutes of desperate looking, he closed the book over with a sigh.  
It was all a load of waffle. This was the only book on time travel that he could find. Maybe he wasn't looking in the right place. Maybe he should ask permission to look in the restricted section. But for now, he'd look up a list of schools. He hesitantly glanced at Madame Pince. She was there to help...wasn't she? He started to make his way towards her, his shoes making a squeaking sound along the highly polished wood of the floor. He was beginning to think that she was trying to kill him with her eyes. He stopped short in front of her desk.

"Uh..."

"Yes?" she said curtly.

"Could-could you help me find a book?"

She sniffed. "And what kind of book would it be?"

"A book with a list of Wizarding schools in it."

She huffed, but stepped out from behind her desk and made her way over to the 'A' section. She turned to face Harry.

"Come! Quickly!"

Harry scowled, but followed her. He could see her pulling out different books, running her finger along their spines and muttering to herself, and then placing them down on a table with care.

"There. These should do," she said. " But, if you rip, tear, shred, bend, fold, deface, disfigure, smear, smudge, throw, drop or in any other manner damage, mistreat or show lack of respect towards this book, the consequences will be as awful as it is within my power to make them."

And with that, she scurried back to her desk. Harry recognised her little 'speech' to be what she printed on the front of all the Hogwarts library books. He sighed, and sat down. He seemed to be doing that a lot lately. Sighing. He picked up the first book he saw. It looked very old and dusty. It had a faded brown cover, and he could just make out the fading golden lettering across the top, spelling out,_ 'Wizarding Academies across the world'. _Almost a soon as he opened it, a large cloud of dust rose into the air, making Harry splutter and cough. He vaguely heard a "Sshhh!" which he was sure came from Madame Pince. With another sigh, he flipped back to the index. More dust. He tried not to cough, instead, inhaling some dust up his nose. If that was what was going to happen every time he tried to open the damn thing, he'd have to do something, or else face the wrath of Madame Pince. He extracted his wand from his robes pocket and muttered, _"Scourgify."_

There. The dust should be cleared now. He hoped. His spell had proved somewhat successful. He skimmed the index for a few minutes, until he came to the Great Britain section. There was a list of two schools in total. Weird. He hadn't been actually expecting it. He had previously thought that Hogwarts was the only wizarding school in Britain. But obviously he was wrong. Maybe it was the biggest, the most well know. The other one was called, ' Thywicks Academy for young Witches and Wizards'. It was located just outside of London. How come he'd never heard of it before? Well, he'd have to go with that one. Thywicks. It sounded strange on his tongue. The name. Hogwarts sounded much more...familiar. But that was all he need to know. He could make up the rest. He closed the book over and placed it back on the shelf, along with the others, Madame Pince eyeing him suspiciously and made his way out of the library.

Maybe if Harry had read on, he would have noticed a newer looking label at the end of the page, in curly black ink, reading _'Destroyed in the year 1600 AD'._

* * *

The Marauders were on their way back to Gryffindor Tower after their trip to the kitchens. Sirius was still stuffing himself with blueberry muffins and Remus was wiping crumbs from his mouth. Peter had a chicken wing in each hand and James had already finished his second helping of treacle tart back in the last corridor. Sirius had spent a good while chatting with the house elves as he said they were fun to talk to. After Sirius had cleaned himself up and Peter had wiped his hands on his robes, which Remus found quite disgusting so he siphoned it off with a cleaning spell, they entered through the Fat Lady, Sirius carelessly winking at a couple of Fifth year girls also on their way in as it was getting late, who blushed and giggled. As they reached they common room, they heard a voice calling,

"Oi! James!"

It was Harry. He was at a table, several finished essays and spare parchment littered around him. James turned to him.

"Yeah?"

"What was the Transfiguration homework again? I never wrote it down."

James and the other Marauders made their way over to Harry, spreading themselves lazily around the table, James putting his feet up.

"Uh...an essay of the do's and dont's on Human Transfiguration, based on the notes we took today. Due Friday."

Harry scrunched up his nose. "Due Friday? I think I'll do it tomorrow then. Today's Wednesday isn't it? I don't feel like doing it today."

Sirius made tutting sounds, wagging his finger. "Slacking off? I thought more of you Powers."

Harry grinned, shrugging his shoulders. "Well, it's due Friday so...I think I'll leave it until tomorrow."

He stuffed his parchment, quill and ink back into his bag and spread himself out on his chair. "I'm sort of tired. Maybe I'll go to bed. Early night or whatever."

Harry was just getting up, when he felt something grip his arm. It was James. He was shaking his head and smiling widely.

"Nah. We don't really know each other properly, do we?"

Harry swallowed. "I-I suppose not."

"Then lets get to know each other!" said James cheerfully.

Harry scratched the back of his head, looking around the common room for an escape route, but finding none.

"Uh...it's getting sort of late. We have loads of time to do this tomorrow, don't we?"

James shook his head, frowning. "We have loads of time now! Come _on,_ five minutes!"

Harry sat back down, defeated. "Fine. Five minutes. I'm really tired, so hurry up."

James grinned, looking pleased with himself. "Right. Well, we'll start!"

He gestured to himself. "James Potter."

"I know that already-"

James interrupted him. "Shush."

He looked at Sirius. "Pads?"

Sirius grinned. "Sirius Black, at your service!" He once again held out his knuckle, which Harry tapped lightly.

James looked at Remus, who had his arms folded. "Moony?"

Remus glared at him. "We did this already Prongs, so we don't need to do it again."

James laughed, as if Remus was making a particularly funny joke. He stopped laughing when he saw Remus trying to imitate the glare of death that was His; James Potter's speciality.

"Oh come on, we have to do this properly! Don't be _rude_ Moony! Just do it!"

Remus sighed, but introduced himself again all the same. "Remus Lupin," he said in a bored tone.

James looked at Peter and nodded. "Peter Pettigrew," he said, his eyes flickering to the floor.

James nodded, satisfied. He motioned to all four of them.

"So, uh, we're the Marauders, and we currently attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!"

Harry was sort of confused. "Look, I know this already, so-"

James waved his hand, not interested in the trivial matter of Harry possibly knowing these things already.

"Your turn!" he said brightly. When Harry said nothing, he tried again.

"Your turn!" he repeated. Harry looked at him questioningly, still silent. James tapped his foot against the floor impatiently.

"It's your bloody turn Powers!"

"Well, that shows you know my name then."

James scowled at him. Harry sighed. "Alright then. Harry Powers, currently attending Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

James pressed on. "Yeah, and before that?"

So this was where all this introducing crap was leading to. "Um, Thywicks. Thywicks Academy for young Witches and Wizards."

Remus frowned. "Never heard of it. Where's it located?"

Harry struggled to remember for a split second. "London. Just outside of London."

"Huh. Weird. I thought that Hogwarts was the only Wizarding school in Britain," said Remus.

Harry shrugged, hoping he looked convincing. "It's pretty small. Not nearly as big as Hogwarts. It...only had two floors, and those were sort of cramped as well."

Peter looked incredulous. "Two floors? Is that _all?"_

Harry glared at him, immediately coming to the defence of his new found imaginary school.

"Yeah. There something wrong with that?"

Peter bit his lip. "N-no."

"Course there isn't," said James smoothly. Pete's right though, it is sort of small."

Harry nodded, trying to look thoughtful, all the while not having the tiniest problem with James commenting on his imaginary school.

"I suppose it is. Hogwarts is much more...I dunno...much more _grand_ if you could say that. How many pupils are there in Hogwarts?" He honestly never tried to estimate it before.

Remus answered. "Must be between a thousand to one thousand five hundred, as most of the wizarding kids in Britain come here." He cast an apologetic look at Harry. "Why?"

"Well, there less than two hundred kids in Thywicks. Hardly any, compared to here." He hoped he sounded convincing.

"I haven't been here long, but I feel like I belong." And this time, he was speaking the truth, even if it was the cheesiest thing he had ever said. Hogwarts was his most favourite place in the world. It was the place that took him away from The Dursleys ten months a year. To cut it short, it was his home. Sirius grinned at him.

"Yeah. Hogwarts is like that. Its _my_ favourite place in the world."

He looked distant for a moment. Harry and Sirius were more alike than people saw at first. You had to look underneath it all. They were both reckless. They both thought of Hogwarts as their place to get away. From their crazy families. And while Sirius' family hated muggles, and Harry's hated Wizards, it was the same concept.

Harry smiled. "Yeah. It's growing on me already."

Then James remembered what Sirius had said, and peered at Harry's forehead. He cocked his head, and looked at Remus who had also spared it a glance. A quizzical expression crossed his features.

James spoke, breaking Harry's line of thought. "That's-an interesting scar you have there. Unusual. Like-like lightning."

Harry subconsciously flattened his hair over it. "Uh, yeah."

"What happened?"

He decided to play dumb. "What d'you mean?"

"How'd you get that scar?"

"It-it happened when I was little."

Yeah," James pressed. "But how?"

Harry was panicking. He didn't know what else to do, so he jumped up from his chair, swinging his schoolbag over his shoulder.

"I'm going to bed. I-I'm really tired right now." He faked a yawn for good measure.

"See you guys tomorrow."

With that, he bolted up the stairs leading to the boys dorms. James shook his head.

"Talk about uptight. He's definitely keeping secrets."

"I wonder if he remembers Moony took all the pillows?" Sirius wondered aloud.

* * *

_"Lily, it's him! Take Harry and run!"_

_"Not Harry, please not Harry!"_

_"Kill the spare."_

_"Now, I want you to write: I must not tell lies."_

_"He's just a boy! He's too young!""_

_"What is life, without a little risk?"_

_"Happy are we? You've finally done it. You've driven him loopy."_

_"I WILL have order!"_

Harry was in a white sphere. He wandered to the side, but an invisible force knocked him backwards. And then, he fell. It was as if the floor had disappeared. He felt as if he was falling falling falling, faster and faster and faster. Faces kept popping up beside him, as if trying to shout in his ears. They disappeared as fast as they came. More voices were clamouring for his attention, but all he could concentrate on was the wind, that horrible wind, whistling through his ears.

_"There's no such thing as magic!"_

_"He's gone Harry."_

_Filth! Scum!"_

_Harry, Harry, wake up, you're dreaming Harry."_

_"Life. Isn't. Fair."_

_And then she went and and got herself blown up, and we got landed with you!"_

_"I have nothing more to say to Potter. You have irked me too often, for too long."_

_"When all this is over we'll be a proper family. You'll see."_

That person he saw was Sirius', a big grin on his face, grey eyes shining, as if everything was going to be okay. But Harry knew. Harry knew that it wasn't. Nothing was okay anymore, because Sirius was gone. Sirius was getting smaller and smaller, fading away into the distance, until Harry couldn't take it anymore. He felt himself screaming.

"Harry! HARRY! Wake up!"

He felt someone slap his face, hard. His scar seared with pain, and he clutched his head desperately. Cold laughter filled his head, as if it was jeering him, taunting him that Sirius was dead, and that he'd never come back.  
He thrashed around wildly, until he felt someone shake his shoulders and shake him.

"Harry! Calm down! Calm down, it was only a dream!"

He recognised the voice to belong to Remus.

"For Merlin's sake, someone grab his bloody legs!" James this time.

He sat up with a start, and the room slowly swam into focus. He quickly looked around him, sweating. The curtains of his four poster had been dragged back roughly, and the Marauders were crowded around him, wide eyed.  
Cold laughter filled his head again, and when he closed his eyes, he saw Sirius falling backwards, looking at Harry pleadingly for help. He looked so scared. Harry had never seen Sirius look so scared before. He disappeared.  
Harry began to scream again, until he felt another, hard slap in the face.  
He blinked, as his scar throbbed painfully, and saw a younger looking Sirius, his hand raised, looking guilty.  
Sirius. _Sirius! _He jumped up on his bed like a scared animal, and hit his head off the top. He sat back on his knees. gripping his sheets desperately.  
Peter put his hand out to rest on Harry's shoulder, making him back away further into his gripping the pole.  
James spoke, his hands out in front of him.

"We're not going to hurt you."

Everything suddenly became clear and sharp, the colours so bright it almost hurt his eyes. He looked at Sirius, wanting nothing more than to tell him how relieved he was that he was _alive._ In this time. He glared instead, trying to keep his voice steady. It came out a bit shaky.

"Oh yeah? How come I don't believe you?"

Sirius had the grace to look slightly ashamed. "Sorry. It was the only thing I could think of doing."

Harry narrowed his eyes. "Original."

He looked down at his sheets, since he had no pillows. They were drenched in sweat. So was he.

"But-but you were screaming," stuttered Peter.

Harry closed his eyes, but quickly opened them again, just in case.

"It was nothing. Just a nightmare."

"Nothing? Nothing?" James roared. "It must have been _something_ to make you scream like that! You were screaming loud to wake up the whole bloody castle! You woke Wormtail for Merlin's sake! It must have been _some_ bloody nightmare!"

Harry shook his head, pulling at his damp hair. "Look, I'm alright. I'll see you all down at breakfast, after I take a shower."

Sirius shook his head, looking suspicious. "You don't look alright. And you were screaming pretty loud. You woke Wormtail! You're the first one to be able to do that since-since he was born probably! So don't tell us that you're alright, because you're not."

Harry jumped up, the room spinning. "Really. I'm okay."

"As he made his way to the showers, the Marauder's were standing close enough to hear him whisper,

"Lestrange. This is it."

* * *

**A/N: I really enjoyed writing this chapter! Okay, so the for Harry's 'fake' school, I was going to go with Spellwicks, but found out that it had already been used in another fanfiction. So sorry about the horrible name. Thyrsus means 'wand' in Latin, so...Yep. Sorry about my serious lack of imagination! The Marauders won't discuss Harry's little 'breakdown' for a few days, but they'll get to it! And the subject of the map will come back up too. And thank you to my reviewers for the last chapter! I feel so happy when I get a review, it brightens my whole day! So thanks too:**

**Guest: Thank you! I'm glad you like it so far!**

**J.F.C: Thanks for the review :) I know I stretched it a bit, but I couldn't think of how else to reveal it! Thank you. **

**Cookies and Cream1234567: Ah, thank you =) (You did an amazing job beta-ing) I really enjoy writing, and when someone says that they enjoy what I write, I feel really happy :)**

**Clairebear1982: Thanks so much! And your welcome! I wanted to get all the facts about Sirius' life right! And the Marauders map! Yes, this will come up again. Harry has a bit of a problem there! Thanks again, xx**

**Go. Marauders. and. Lily: Thank you! I practically burst with happiness when you said that this was one of your favourite Marauder stories! And thanks, I will :)**

**skHermione: Thank you so much, you're really sweet. I try :) It also makes me sad too, knowing their ending :( But after that, a boy who captured everyone's hearts grew on :) Next stop: No.4 Privet Drive :0**

**AlicePotterXxX: Thank you! I really enjoyed writing that scene :) **

**Breezers2000: Thank you! Glad you like it! :D**

**Starkid191: Yay too! Deep doodoo. I also love saying that! I can't stop saying it now! =D xx**

**Guest: Thanks for the review! Just to clear your confusion, if the Marauder's see Harry's name on the map, who knows what they'll do :o**

**bubzchoc: Thank you :) And thanks for reading :)**

**Lea: I got confused at first haha, but I figured it out eventually:) And thank you! I like the way you describe it as a twist! xx**

**Mathlover4: I didn't either! One day, I was eating a sandwich and it just popped into my head and I was "Oh my God!" (Its true!) Thank you! =D xx**

**Whew! That took a while, and I won't be doing this all the time, but I felt like I just had to give a little thank you to those who reviewed on the last chapter :)**  
**So, all I have left to say is that I'll try and update soon :) **

**~Quidditchexpert**


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